Weather the Storm
by Ormandria
Summary: Brothers in blood, enemies in mind. Can Knives really be redeemed or will he be killed before Vash even gets the chance to try? NOW RATED T FOR YOUR READING ENJOYMENT!
1. Oasis

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own Trigun or any of the Characters therein. This story was written based on the TV Series shown on Adult Swim. It ignores the added scene that appears at the end of the last episode on the DVD where Vash brings Knives back into town, carried over his shoulder._

_Please understand that this was started in response to the many post-series Trigun FanFics I have read that deal with Knives being already redeemed or dead. So this is my version of just how Knives was redeemed or killed. Won't say which, so you will just have to read the story to find out which it is._

Ormandria

"_When the heart is broken and the soul in shreds and the spirit beaten down, there is very little left for the empty body to rebuild its life upon. The young woman, who wore her scars on the inside, took the plant from my hands. As she did so, she told me that we are like the plant. That we can heal and recover from such wounds. That such wounds can actually make us stronger. And that it is in this small feat that the true wonder of life is found."_

– Vash the Stampede

Weather the Storm

Vash the Stampede walked slowly through the desert terrain with his brother's injured body firmly set upon his shoulder. He hadn't stopped walking since the moment he had picked Knives up off the ground the day before. He was resolute in his mission. He figured that if he could just get Knives to the nearest town and get his injuries tended to, he might just have a chance to prepare himself before Knives regained consciousness. Vash didn't know exactly what he would do once that happened. In fact, all Vash was sure of at this point was that he had to make sure there was no one, save Vash himself, anywhere near Knives when he did wake up. At least not unless Vash wanted anymore bloodshed. To say that Knives was a cold-blooded killer was an understatement of dynamic proportions. He had proven that fact over and over again since they were boys. When Knives first took the lives of Rem, and everyone else on the ship that had brought them to this desert planet with the twin suns, over one-hundred years ago.

Now Vash was determined to do whatever it took to "cure" his brother of these dark and horrifying habits before Knives destroyed anymore lives. Despite all that Knives had put him through, Vash still loved his brother enough to believe that he could redeem Knives of all the evil deeds he had committed in the past. All he needed was a where, and a how.

Vash paused in mid-step and stared straight ahead. The heat wavered along the horizon making it difficult for Vash to tell if what he thought he had just seen was truly there, or if it had been a trick of the mind. It took only a moment of waiting for Vash to realize that it was no mirage. Securing his grip on his brother, Vash broke into a run.

"_WATER!"_ Vash cried as he unceremoniously dumped his brother's limp body onto the ground next to him. Sticking his head, mouth open and at the ready, under the spout, Vash started pumping the well handle furiously. The water that poured into his mouth and over his head nearly drowned out the soft, feminine clearing of a throat next to his ear.

Vash hurriedly sat up and started rubbing the back of his head where he had hit it on the pump. "Gee, I'm sorry ma'am. Is this well yours? I didn't mean to intrude. It's just that it's been so long since I've had a nice drink of water," he laughed nervously.

Vash looked up into the face of the young woman kneeling in front of him. She had her head cocked to one side and seemed to be studying him. After a moment, she shrugged her shoulders and replied.

"I guess its okay. But I'm pretty sure that you would find the water inside much better tasting. And your friend over there might actually be much more comfortable on a bed rather than on the ground." With that the woman lifted herself up using the shovel she had been holding in her right hand as leverage. "Follow me if you'd like."

Vash sat staring after her. It took an instant for her words to sink in. He quickly stood up and still laughing said, "Yes, I suppose that would be good. Thank you very much ma'am." He quickly picked Knives up and then looked back toward the woman as she headed into the house. This time his expression was much more serious.

'_Something isn't right here,'_ Vash thought to himself as he followed her inside.

Vash had prepared himself for almost anything except what he actually saw when he entered the house. He nearly fell on the floor and just barely managed to keep a hold of Knives. The woman nodded at his sharp intake of breath.

"Yes," she said. "They are beautiful aren't they?"

The front door of the house opened into what would normally be the sitting room with a set of stairs along one wall. There was one large table in the center of the room along with some very comfortable looking chairs and some smaller end tables scattered around that had a few knick-knacks, pictures and lamps on them. But it was the walls that caught his attention. Every wall had multiple shelves on it. And every shelf had multiple plants on them. Plants of every possible kind that Vash could ever have imagined and more. He hadn't seen so many plants since New Arcadia. And even then, they were all outside.

"Please," the young woman's voice brought Vash out of his state of shock. "There is a bedroom upstairs. We can put your friend in there and tend to his wounds."

Vash nodded numbly.

"Yes...alright," he said. Vash was trying to get a grip on the situation but was finding it very difficult, all things considered. The woman didn't look to be more than twenty-years-old, yet the two trees outside were nearly full-grown and had to be at least fifty-years-old. And some of the plants he had seen in the main sitting room, he hadn't seen since his day's back on the ship with Rem. Then there was the matter of this woman's sudden appearance by his side at the well.

'_I didn't even know she was there until she cleared her throat,'_ the thought pushed its way to the forefront of his mind. _'How could I have missed her standing there?'_

The stairs opened up onto a long hallway with a total of five doors in it. Two on each side of the hallway and the fifth at the very end. The woman led Vash through the nearest door on the right. It was a small bedroom furnished very simply with a small bed pressed against the opposite wall and a large dresser pressed against the wall next to the door. A small table and two chairs rested beneath the only window in the room. The curtains on the window were already pulled back so that sunlight spilled across the table into the otherwise empty room.

"You lay him down on the bed, and I'll get some bandages and salve."

Vash laid Knives on the bed and started to undress him. He than removed the temporary bandages that he had put on Knives. It was the first time that Vash had inspected any of the wounds since he initially bandaged them. The wound on his brother's chest was an ugly wound. Much worse than Vash had realized. He felt bad about that. He felt even worse about the fact that he hadn't even thought about looking at it before now. It was an angry red and seemed to be blistering under the skin. It didn't surprise Vash though. Knives had once mentioned something to Vash about the scars carved into Vash's body and his inability to regenerate them. Knives had been thoroughly disgusted with what he took as just another piece of proof to Vash's weaknesses. Vash took this to mean that Knives had long ago figured out how to heal any wounds even more quickly than he, himself, and without the scars. So it was only natural that any wound that would put Knives down would be a fairly bad wound indeed. And the wound in Knives chest definitely fit the bill.

"That doesn't look so good," said the young woman, who was suddenly behind Vash. This time though, Vash managed not to look surprised.

She knelt down and examined the wound. "Hmm. Gunshot blasts. We should get the bullets out before it becomes even more infected than it is. Your friend is already starting to run a fever."

"Brother," Vash absent-mindedly corrected her.

She looked over at Vash. "Go to the kitchen. It's right past the sitting room. Get a bowl and fill it with warm water. When you're done with that, grab a knife from the top drawer next to the sink and a towel from the bottom drawer. Bring them all up."

Vash nodded and went down to do as he had been instructed. It had not even occurred to Vash, until he entered the kitchen, that he shouldn't do as she told him. The fact that he was finding himself following her every command without even thinking about it unnerved him even more than the fact that he couldn't sense her until she was already on top of him. Vash had no doubt that if, for some reason, she decided to sneak up behind him and slit his throat she could do so before he even blinked. But at the same time, Vash felt that there was something strangely familiar about her. He quickly filled the bowl with water and grabbed the knife and towel and headed back upstairs.

The woman had already lit a small candle over which she was heating a small pair of tweezers. She had pulled the table over next to the bed and was currently sitting in on of the chairs while she did this. Vash set the bowl of water on the table beside her and then sat in the other chair, still holding the knife and towel in his hands. He said nothing, having chosen to just watch instead.

She was an extremely pretty young woman, he thought to himself. She had soft brown hair that went down to her mid back and was held in a very loose ponytail behind her. Only her bangs were not held back from her face, being just long enough to end right above her bright green eyes. She had come up to Vash's shoulder when they had both been standing up.

Now, she seemed totally oblivious to the world around her as she worked to remove the bullets from Knives chest, arms and legs with the tweezers. Vash was amazed by the steadiness of her hands and her careful concern not to make the wound worse. When she finally removed all the bullets, she used the knife to cut a small hole into some of the dead skin around the wound on his chest that had started to collect puss. After draining as much of the puss as possible she used the towel and water to clean the wound, put some salve on it and bandaged it back up. When she finished she just sat and looked Knives over to see if there was anything she had missed. Satisfied that there wasn't she leaned back in her chair.

"He should be okay for now. I'll make some medicine for his fever in case it gets any worse. Just so you know though, he'll probably sleep for a few days at least. You have some wounds yourself, that should probably be looked at," she paused, "Vash the Stampede."

"Well, it seems you have me at a bit of a disadvantage," Vash said as he took another sip hot cider. She had given it to him after she had finished tending to his wounds, which were not nearly as bad as his brother's. Although she had not been able to totally conceal her surprise at all of the scars covering his body. As a result he had felt obligated to give some minor explanation into the events. His version of minor being that his brother and he had gotten in a small scuffle in the desert and things got "kinda outta hand. Ha ha."

"I'm sorry. My name is Eleesa. And this is my home," she replied. "And you and your brother are welcome to stay here as long as you need to."

Vash cleared his throat. "Thank you. But I really think that I should take him and get going."

"Why? So he can die in the desert heat? I thought you wanted to save him?"

Vash's fist pounded down on the table. "It's not like that!" he yelled.

Eleesa jerked back in surprise and stared at Vash in shock. He was so angry he was shaking and she didn't know how to react. She hadn't meant to make him angry. _'No,'_ she thought to herself as she watched him. _'He's not angry. He's…. He's crying.'_

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to upset you."

As suddenly as the crying had started, it stopped. It was replaced by the same nervous laughter that he'd had out in the garden.

"No," he said with a wide grin on his face. "I'm the one who should be sorry. Here you are being all hospitable and I go and ruin a perfectly good afternoon. Really. Ha ha. Huh?"

Eleesa looked at Vash with a hard heavy stare. She wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily. Vash sighed and returned to a more serious demeanor.

"Really. I am sorry about that. It is very important that you not be near my brother when he wakes up. He's a very dangerous man."

"And what about you? Vash the Stampede. The Humanoid Typhoon. You're supposed to be a very dangerous man as well, aren't you? You bring disaster with you at all times. Yet, somehow, no one seems to have ever died until recently. And even then, there seems to be a new influx of people insisting that you couldn't possibly be to blame for those deaths. And now here you are in the middle of the desert trying to save the life of a man that, by the looks of your wounds, tried to kill you, if I'm not mistaken."

For the first time since they had met Eleesa smiled. It was a sad smile. An old and tired smile of someone who knows what comes at the end of a very long life and is no longer afraid of it, but instead is ready to welcome it like an old friend. Again, for just an instance, Vash found himself thinking that there was something very familiar about her. But before he could ask, she continued.

"Don't you think, that maybe, just once, you should allow someone else to carry the world on their shoulders?" She laid her hand on his shoulder. "You know Vash, not all of us are in need of protection."

"I don't think you understand the seriousness of the situation in front of you," he replied, bowing his head. "My brother is a cold-blooded killer, with no conscience, no remorse." Vash started turning the now empty cup around in his hands as he continued in a trembling voice.

"He wasn't always like this. Once he was a kind and caring person. But somewhere along the line, something in him just…broke. I spent most of my life running from the knowledge of what my brother had become. Running from my brother. Until, finally, I had no place left to run. He was killing the people around me. So I did the only thing I could. I decided to hunt him down. But now, I'm going to save him," he paused.

"Even if it kills me, I'm going to save him." Vash looked up at Eleesa with a fierce look in his eyes. "Do you see now? You're in danger as long as you're anywhere near him."

Eleesa walked out of the room briefly and came back in carry a large potted plant that she placed on the table in front of him.

"Do you know what these are?" Eleesa asked as she took a seat opposite of Vash.

Vash suddenly felt very confused. He had absolutely no idea how this conversation had gone from trying to convince her of the danger his brother posed to a lesson on plants. _'The woman must be a complete loon,'_ he thought to himself.

"Yes," he said slowly. "They're flowers." Vash said as he picked them up off the table to get a closer look.

"They're called Poinsettias," she said. "I've had these flowers for a long time Vash. Every year they bloom and then after a few months they die. And then I have to wait until the next year for them to bloom again." She studied Vash for a moment to see if he understood what she was getting at.

"And what's that got to do with my brother and me?" he asked, still not able to follow the flow of this sudden change in conversation.

She sighed. "Nothing, Vash. And yet everything. Every year I have to tend to this plant to make sure it grows. I have to tend to all of my plants. I dare not lose even one for fear that it will never grow back. And that takes work. The grass outside and the trees? Those take even more work. And sometimes, just sometimes, I want to give up. I get tired and don't want to do it anymore. I keep on because I know it's the right thing to do. And because it's all I have left in my life. The only thing that still has meaning for me. People are the same way. Sometimes they die inside. But if you can get to them in time, sometimes, just sometimes, you can bring them back to life."

Vash looked up from the flowers to her.

Her head was cocked again, but this time the smile didn't seem so sad. She reached over and grasped his hands in hers. "Wounds heal Vash. But scars can remain forever. You wear yours on the outside. Wear them proudly. They are the scars of a man with a good heart. A man who helps people. Wear them proudly. But your brother…," she looked toward the stairs briefly, before looking back at Vash. "You say that somewhere along the line he broke. People don't just 'break' Vash. Something has to cause that break. That fracture of the mind, spirit and soul. Your brother is a wounded man, just like you. But from what you have told me it seems that the worst of his wounds are on the inside and they need healing too. Those are the wounds that leave the deepest scars. The scars can be minimized, but to do that they first need to be reopened. Can you do that Vash? Can you reopen your brother's wounds to save him? Can you be ruthless enough to force your brother to face the demons of his past?"

Vash looked back at the flowers without answering. He didn't know what to say at this point. For that matter, he wasn't even sure how he should feel, so staring at the flowers in front of him seemed the only acceptable response to this line of inquiry.

"Think of it this way," she continued as she stood, facing the entryway to the sitting room. "Your brother is in a dark pit that only he can get himself out off. Believe me, I know. I know, because I was once in that same pit myself. Getting out of it is hard, but it can be done. He can come back from this healed and stronger then ever. That's where you find the true wonders of life, Vash. It's when you can die inside, and then be reborn again, better than ever."

Eleesa gently took the plant from Vash's hands. "Stay here … for the night at least. There's another bedroom across from the one your brother is in. There are clean linens in the dresser that you can use." She held the back of her hand to her mouth as she yawned. "Goodnight, Vash." She turned and left the room.

Vash sat there listening to her put the plant away and go upstairs. He kept going over everything she had said. It made sense, but how much sense…. He stood up and walked over to the door, opening it to stare up at the stars outside.

"Is this your doing Rem?" he said to the air. "Are you trying to tell me something? Are you? Did you send me an angel? Someone to guide me? Someone to help me finally heal Knives?" Vash continued staring at the stars. Finally he looked down to his hands. The hands he hoped to use to redeem his brother.

Vash had seen a lot of things this past year that couldn't be explained. But this one had him totally baffled. There was something about Eleesa that offset Vash from the very beginning. Something that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He wanted answers. He needed answers. And there was only one way he would be able to get those answers. Nodding to himself and his final decision, Vash quietly walked back into the house, shutting the door behind him.

* * *

_White-hot pain throbbed behind his temple causing Knives eyes to water so badly that his vision was blurred. But just as quickly as it started, the pain stopped, giving way to a dull ache. He tried moving, but couldn't. He blinked rapidly to dry his eyes so that he could at least look around the room. But it was no use. His head wouldn't even move. It took him only a few moments to realize why. _

_There was a strap that led from the bed, over his forehead and down to the other side of the bed, holding his upper head flat to the mattress. Likewise, there was a chin strap that, together with the strap on his forehead, kept his whole head immobile. In fact, his body was strapped to the bed at the shoulders, chest, waist, thighs, calves and ankles. There was absolutely no way he was going to move. _

_So the only thing Knives could see was the brightly lit white ceiling above him. But he knew that someone else was there. There was something just beyond his peripheral vision. He wasn't quite sure what it was. It felt human, but not quite human. Somehow beyond normal humanity. Like him and Vash, but again, not quite like him and Vash. He also distinctly felt that whatever 'it' was, it was also female. And it was doing something totally unthinkable to him. It had its hands in his head. As if it was just pushing his brains around looking for something. He could feel it moving around in there. It was hard for him to breath, and although Knives would be hard-pressed to admit it later, he was starting to panic. _

* * *

Knives lay unmoving in his bed. A slight sheen of perspiration dotted his forehead and his eyes twitched slightly in his heavy slumber. His clothes lay draped over a chair sitting by the window.

Eleesa stood the middle of the room staring at the unconscious man before her. Her face a total mask to any emotions. She stood there for a long time, watching, waiting, concentrating.

"Knives," she whispered to the darkened room.

Across the hall, pale light from the stars outside filtered into the room through the half opened curtains. Vash snorted once and unconsciously rolled over to get more comfortable. He then buried his head a little deeper into his pillow and continued to sleep.

* * *

The next morning Vash awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs. He quickly dressed himself and hurried done the stairs so fast that the dishes in the table continued spinning for quite some seconds after he had sat down. Eleesa looked at him in amazement as she scooped up two eggs and some bacon onto a plate and slid it in front of him.

"And I thought I was fast," she laughed.

"Nothing…is faster…" Vash said between bites. "Than a…hungry man…on a…mission." Vash gulped down his drink equally as fast and nearly choked on it.

"So," Eleesa started as Vash finished hacking and coughing. "Have you decided whether or not you're going to stay?"

Vash looked at Eleesa and nodded. "Actually miss, I have," he said, suddenly serious once again. "I thought about it all night and decided to take you up on your offer."

Eleesa turned and smiled a wide welcome grin at Vash.

"That's good. I think that you'll find that things won't be so bad here," she said in an upbeat voice. "Oh, and I checked on your brother this morning. His fever is back down to normal and I re-bandaged his wounds. He should be up in a day or two."

Vash stood up. "That sounds terrific. If you don't mind, though, I'd kind of like to go check on him myself."

"Well of course. He is your brother after all," she said as she went back to cleaning the kitchen with a smile on her face.

Vash went up to check on Knives and was relieved to see that he had more color in his face and seemed to be breathing easier than yesterday. He took a quick look at all the bandages and, finally satisfied that Eleesa had done a good job, he walked back downstairs and into what he was now thinking of as the plant room.

He was taking his time, looking at all the different variety of plants that Eleesa seemed to have growing in the room, when Eleesa walked in drying her hands on a towel.

"Purple Irises," she said, startling Vash out of his reverie.

Vash blushed in embarrassment at being caught off guard yet again by this woman.

"Um, I'm sorry?" he looked around quickly.

Eleesa nodded at the flowers he had just been looking at. "Those flowers. They're Purple Irises."

"Oh, right," Vash laughed. "They're very pretty."

"Yes they are. And those over there," she pointed to some flowers on another shelf. "Those are…."

"Red Geraniums," Vash finished for her.

"Yes," Eleesa said. "I'm impressed. Most people wouldn't know a flower from a weed around here."

"Well, you see," Vash scratched the back of his head as he continued on nervously. "I had a friend who loved red flowers and these were her favorites."

"Ah." Eleesa put down the towel and walked up to Vash. "Do you know the names of any of the others," she asked looking around at the plants.

The smile dropped from Vash's face. "Not really. Can you tell me?"

"Certainly," Eleesa responded as she started pointing out flowers.

The next few hours were spent with Eleesa showing Vash each plant and then giving him a detailed report of everything she knew of that particular plant. Which, Vash had to admit, was impressively long. In fact, Eleesa had just finished showing Vash one of her personal favorites, a miniature rosebush that grew red with yellow colored roses, when suddenly something else caught his attention.

"What's this?" he asked as he picked up a framed picture from the shelf nearby. The picture on it was very old and was a group of people, all adults in that appeared to be in their twenties, sitting on a blanket, nestled on what appeared to be soft grass. There were some trees in the picture and off to the side and behind them was a huge amount of water.

Eleesa looked past Vash's shoulder at the picture.

"That? Oh," she sighed as if remembering something wonderful. "That's a picture of me and some of my friends from a long time ago."

"But," Vash suddenly envisioned his many picnics with Rem in the Rec Room on the ship.

"_So, this is what earth looked like Rem?"_

"_Yes, Vash. This is what it looked like. And someday soon, when we find a new home, you can see all of this for real."_

"_Will there be flowers there Rem?"_

"_I hope so. Lots of flowers. Lots of red flowers."_

"It looks like what Rem described," Vash continued, now more to himself than to Eleesa. "It looks like Earth."

Eleesa just laughed slightly and replied, "That's because it is Earth, silly."

The intact of breath, coupled with a look of complete shock were the only reply as the framed picture slipped out of Vash's hands onto the floor. The glass in the frame shattered on contact and pieces flew everywhere.


	2. Awakening

_Eleesa ran down the corridor of the ship as she finished pulling on her grey and blue jumpsuit. The overhead lights were flashing red, covering the whole deck in the color. She had always disliked the use of red for the emergency alerts. Every time she saw it she felt like she was drenched in blood. She blamed her father for that one. He and his stupid childhood stories of space monsters and aliens that would come onto ships, such as the one that she now found herself a crew member of, and devour all the living souls. And he gave such graphic detail to every story that it'd had this lasting effect on her._

'_Damn it!' she thought to herself. She felt like she'd just finally gotten to sleep after one of the longest shifts of her life and now this. She couldn't help but wonder what that idiot Jack had done now. He was supposed to watch the plants while she rested. It wasn't like it was that hard a job. She had even shown him what to do if one should go down. But somehow, Jack always seemed to make even the simplest tasks difficult. And now this._

"_Oops. Sorry," Eleesa yelled to the person that she'd nearly run over in her hurry to get to the number two plant._

"_Eleesa!" came the yell back. "Where are you headed?"_

_Eleesa turned around to see Mac. He was the burly medical officer that kept tabs on all the people in the cryo-chambers and saw to any injuries that the sparse crew of six, the only people awake on the ship, happened to suffer with the help of his assistant Pat._

"_To the second plant. Shawna called me from a pretty good dream to inform me that it was on the fritz. Why?" she asked._

"_Damn girl! Didn't she tell you what happened?"_

"_No, she didn't Mac. What's going on?"_

"_One of the other ships sent out a change of coordinates signal to all the rest of us. And we can't seem to change it from our end," he explained._

"_So? What's the problem? Maybe they found another planet to go inspect," she retorted._

"_Oh, they found another planet alright. The coordinates take us right into the core of that planet."_

_Realization dawned on Eleesa as she took this information in._

"_Oh shit," she said._

"_Oh shit is right. Unless we can find a way to stop this ship, we're gonna be road-kill." Mac looked up at the blinking lights above. "Well, I'm needed in the Med Lab. You better get going."_

"_See if you can convince those plants of yours to turn us around!" he yelled from down the corridor._

_Eleesa turned around and continued to run to the second plant. Now that she knew what had happened, she couldn't seem to run fast enough. It seemed like an eternity before she finally reached it. And when she did it was a total mess. The door was continually opening and closing. Sparks where flying ever where. It seemed like there had been an explosion inside._

_Somehow, Eleesa managed to make it past the door into the room. Bits of exposed wire were everywhere. She turned to survey the damage and noticed Jack lying on the floor unconscious._

"_Oh my god. Jack!" She tried shaking him awake but it was no good. Quickly checking his vitals to ensure that he was still alive, she looked for something to hold the door open. She found a large heavy block of metal that she proceeded to push into position. With that she dragged Jack out into the safety of the hallway and re-entered the room to see what she could do._

_The room seemed to be shaking and after a moment Eleesa realized what was causing it. The plant was shaking. It was trying to get out of the protective shielding. And it was doing it! Eleesa ran up ducking and dodging falling bits of metal and wire. When she finally reached the plant, what she saw made her feel as if someone had just dropped a heavy stone in her stomach. There was a huge gaping hole in the protective bubble that surrounded the plant. Eleesa started to walk towards it and was overcome with a sudden and severe wave of fear, anger, and desperation._

'_It knows,' she thought to herself. 'The plant knows what's happening. It's trying to save itself.'_

_Eleesa reached the opening and felt something reach inside her head._

'_Help me.' The words were not so much spoken as they were felt._

"_How?" she asked the plant._

'_Help.'_

_Eleesa felt some invisible force pull her through the opening and into the bubble. The ensuing scream rent the air around her._

_Bright light from inside the plant itself filled the room from top to bottom. Solid at first, it began to pulse rhythmically. The shapes inside began to flow in and out of existence. Changing, merging, becoming one. After what seemed a very long time the light ceased and a figure started to step forth from the broken shell._

_Eleesa was clutching the glass as she stepped out of the opening. The very image of her seemed to echo leaving after images behind her with each new action or movement, as well as leaving the distinct impression that her body was somehow out of sync. Eleesa looked up at the room with eyes whitened in temporary blindness._

"_Help… **Help… **me…. **me….**" The two voices echo past each other as they emitted themselves from Eleesa's throat, just as out of sync. "Help… **Help…** us…. **us….**"_

_Eleesa stepped out of the now dark and empty shell and spiraled down to the floor in unconsciousness.

* * *

_

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

"_Is she okay?" The voice sounded familiar to Eleesa's ears._

'_Shawna?' Eleesa started to open her eyes. Her vision blurred by sleep and pain._

"_Her vitals are stabilizing now. I still don't know what happened to her though."_

'_Mac?' They were standing over her. She tried to lift her head but couldn't quite do it._

"_Welcome to the club. And there's no sign of the plant now either. It's as if … it just disappeared. Luckily though, the other three plants are still up and running."_

'_What's going on? Can't you hear me?' Her mouth seemed full of dry cotton as Eleesa realized that even though she felt like she was talking to them, her mouth wasn't even moving._

"_So tell me Shawna, how did you manage to stop the ship?"_

'_Stop?'_

"_Actually, I didn't. We got another signal from the same ship as before. A landing signal this time. Was sent by someone named Rem Severem. She said there was a malfunction. That the entire crew of her ship was dead. She started to tell us more, but before she could finish, the whole ship just blew apart. Happened right as you found Eleesa and Jack. Speaking of which, how is Jack?"_

_Eleesa watched as both looked over to her left._

"_Not so good Cap'n. He took some major volts. Burned a hole right through one of his lungs. I've got 'em stable…for now. But I honestly don't know how much longer he'll hold out."_

_Eleesa turned her head craned her neck over to see Jack in the bed next to her. To her, he looked like he was simply sleeping even though he had been put on life support. She noted that he did seem to be breathing easier than when she had initially found him. The heart monitor attached to him beeped slowly. Eleesa eased back into unconsciousness.

* * *

_

_Eleesa awoke with a start to a loud noise and commotion around her. It was the erratic beeping of the heart monitor over near Jack._

"_Give me 50cc's of adrenaline. Stat!" Mac's cry resounded around the room. _

_Eleesa's emotions seemed to become a whirlwind inside her. Fear, worry, anger, sadness, resolve. All of them and more seemed to be present. She had never known one person could feel so many emotions before. They welled up inside her until she thought she might burst._

_Eleesa pushed herself up in bed and watched for a few moments as the others worked on Jack._

"_Ugh!" she screamed as pain ripped its way through her mind and body._

_Mac looked over. "What the hell? Shawna! Get her down! She shouldn't be up!"_

"_ARGGHH!" Eleesa screamed again as Shawna came over and tried to get her to lie back down. But Eleesa doubled over instead. Tears streamed from her eyes. _

"_No," she pleaded out loud in a small voice. She felt like she was being ripped apart from the inside out._

_Eleesa felt the pain redouble as next to her the heart monitor let out a long drawn out solid wail of noise. _

_As the pain finally started to ease away replaced by a black pit of nothingness in her stomach, Eleesa noticed the quietness of the room. Shawna, though still sitting next to Eleesa on the bed, was no longer looking at her, but instead was looking toward the one other occupied bed in the med lab. Eleesa turned toward Jack and just managed a final glimpse of him before Mac managed to cover the body with a sheet._

_What she saw sent shivers of pure terror through her. There Jack had laid, his head turned on its side, his eyes bulging out of their sockets, his mouth opened wide in a silent scream and his arm outstretched toward her, as if it were still grabbing for her. But what was the worst of all was the look on his face and the sudden definite knowledge that even in death he seemed to be staring straight into her very soul._

_This time when the scream came it didn't stop for a long time.

* * *

_

Vash was shaking. His now empty hands twitching in the air. He couldn't quite bring himself to believe what he had just heard.

'Earth,' he thought to himself. 'It…. It can't be! It must be a mistake!' Vash could feel his legs start to buckle beneath him as he fell onto his hands and knees. He continued to stare wide-eyed at the floor in disbelief. Sweat trickle from his forehead, flowing past his nose to drop lightly from his face.

'It's not true,' he repeated to himself over and over again. 'It can't be…. It's just a lie…. Not true at all….'

"_It's not true!"_ he yelled finally.

Eleesa knelt down next to him and picked up the shattered frame to look at the picture still lying within it.

"Yes," she said quietly, "It is true."

"How? How is this possible?" Vash stared at her in desperation. He needed to understand this. If what she said was true…. If she was on Earth, it would mean she was even older the he and Knives. But she was a human. Vash was sure of it. And humans don't live that long. Eleesa just kept looking at the photo as her face grew sad.

"_Answer me!"_ He cried. He almost immediately regretted it when she backed away from him, a worried look on her face.

"There was an accident," she explained, now looking purposefully away from Vash. "On the ship. Most people have forgotten about the ships. Most people have forgotten about Earth. And the few who haven't tend to think of it as a sort of Eden. Like in this picture. But it wasn't you know. It wasn't an Eden at all." Her voice never raised above a whisper as she continued on.

"There were very few places like this even left. We had destroyed almost all of it. We tried to correct it. We started genetically engineering plants. Creating new life to replace the life we had taken. It worked better than we thought. Still, it wasn't long before we realized that the plants could do more than just give us air. They could literally give us energy. One plant could power a half a small town. Two could power a ship. With this knowledge, everything changed. We no longer needed to try to save our own dying planet, which many thought to be beyond repair. We could just go out and find a new one. And pray that we didn't repeat the same mistakes all over again. And that's what the governments decided we needed to do. To go somewhere else and repopulate.

"Teams of ships were sent out. Thousands of them. They flew in groups of fifty to hundred. Each group set out in a different direction. It was a safety measure. Just in case any one group couldn't find a suitable place to live, there would be other groups out there that might."

"I was on one of those ships. This place in the photo. I was twenty-five at the time. We were just some of the people who had done work with the plants. So it seemed only logical to pick some of us to stay awake on the long voyages to care and tend to the plants. But they needed more than just one person to tend the plants. They knew that one person alone…. They'd be driven insane by the loneliness. So each ship was given a small crew. In addition to the plant technician there was a medical officer and assistant, a captain, a pilot, and computer engineer. In our case, I was, of course, the plant technician. Mac was our medical officer. Pat was his assistant. Shawna was captain. Cannon was our pilot." Eleesa laughed at this. "His real name was Eric Parks, but we called him Cannon because he had a tendency to go off on all sorts of tangents anytime someone tried having a normal conversation with him. It was like shooting a cannon. He'd blow through just about any subject and there was just no way to stop him. Or to argue with him for that matter."

"And then there was Jack." At this, the smile once again faded from Eleesa's face. "He was our computer engineer. He wasn't even suppose to work with the plants. But we all had to learn the jobs of everyone else. Just in case something happened. And I needed someone to help out every once in a while in case two or more plants needed tending at the same time. So I taught him how to care for the plants."

"I should have never had him do that. I knew that he wasn't cut out for it." Eleesa's voice started to break and Vash could tell that wherever Eleesa's mind was, it wasn't here in the present. She was no longer answering his question. Hell, she wasn't even talking to him anymore. For all that it mattered; he didn't exist in her world right now. All the same though, Vash continued to listen.

"I was tired. It had been an extra long shift. Hadn't slept for days. So I had him take over for me. Told him not to call me unless it was an emergency. I was so stupid! I should have known better. But I was just so damned tired. Then something happened. Our ship was reprogrammed to crash into a planet. This planet. I was awoken by the Captain. One of the plants had gone down and I needed to go check it out. I didn't know it at the time, but Jack had overheard Shawna. Hell, I even thought he might have been the one to cause the problem in the first place. But he hadn't."

"Anyway, he must have decided to check it out first. I had been asleep. I wasn't even dressed. So of course it was easy for him to get there first," she said. Vash continued to watch Eleesa. Her eyes seemed to stare into a distant unseen place and her face took on a hollowed look to it. She didn't even so much as tremble.

Vash had the fleeting impression that Eleesa had locked away all her feelings about the incident for so long that they had withered away into nothingness. And now there was nothing left but the memories themselves.

"When I got there, he was already unconscious on the floor, badly injured from some sort of explosion." Vash could hardly hear her now. "I pulled him out. But there was someone else in there." Eleesa's voice started getting stronger again.

"She was in there…. She needed my help…. She was calling…to…me…, so I went to her."

"Went to who? Who was calling you?" Vash spoke for the first time since Eleesa had started talking.

"Huh?" Eleesa broke from her reverie and looked at Vash for a moment in total confusion, as if the answer should be obvious to him. "The plant."

"The plant?" Vash asked. He knew that the plants were sentient. After all, he had dealt with them enough in his life. Add the fact that he and Knives were evolved from the plants themselves, and suddenly for the first time Eleesa's story was starting to make sense to him.

"Yes," said Eleesa. "The plant. Somehow she knew what was happening. She was afraid. So I went to her. I stepped into the protective shell. To try to save her."

Vash grabbed Eleesa's arms forcing her to look him in the eyes. "And what happened next?" he demanded.

"A bright blinding light," she said as she pulled back from him. "And pain. Like my body was ripped apart and rebuilt all at once. A thousand times over. And…. And that's all I remember. I woke up later in the medical lab. The ship had received another signal by that time, from the same ship, to keep it from crashing. And Jack…." her voice trailed off.

She picked up the fallen photo and looked at it. Her hair fell over her eyes so that Vash could no longer see the expression on Eleesa's face.

"Mac said there was no way he would have made it. There was just too much damage." Eleesa stood up and put the photo sans frame, back on the shelf that it had been on before. "They told me I shouldn't blame myself. Humph. What did they know? And then, as if that weren't bad enough, the plant had totally disappeared. Not a single trace of her. As if she had never even existed."

Vash continued to watch Eleesa as she bent down and started collecting the shards of glass from the floor and the pieces of frame that they came from. There was so much he wanted to ask her just then, but before he could even think of where to begin, she had finished cleaning up the mess and had stood, once again avoiding Vash's stare.

"It's getting late," she said. "If you don't mind, I think I'll just call it a night. You can ask me more questions tomorrow."

Vash watched her walk up stairs, his mouth still opened for a question that he hadn't gotten a chance to ask.

A sharp pain throbbed in Vash's right knee. Suddenly aware that he had legs to stand on, he started pushing himself up and noticed a lone shard of glass that his knee had been resting on. A small droplet of blood was on the edge that had managed to puncture his skin. Vash watched, his whole body shaking, as the droplet slid ever so slowly and gently down to the floor. He was crying before the blood finished its journey.

'_Knives did this.'_ The thought rose unbidden in his mind. _'Why? Why did Knives have to do this? Ruin so many lives? Kill so many people? And how am I ever suppose to wash his hands of the blood now?'

* * *

_

Eleesa walked over to the table in her room and rested her hands on it, looking down. It had been a very long time since she had allowed herself to think about the ship and everything that had happened to it. She usually kept her thoughts on the present, and when they did flow to the past, she restricted them to either her time on Earth or the last twenty years. She felt very strongly that everything that happened in between those two time periods was better left forgotten. A lone shudder ran through her body as a single tear drifted down her cheek.

* * *

"The plant you say," Vash started as they continued working on weeding and watering the garden outside. "She just disappeared? Like she died?"

"Well, at first that was what Mac and Shawna thought. But later they decided that something else must have happened when I was in there." Eleesa used her forearm to wipe the sweat from her brow. "As far as we can tell, she, the plant that is, was rather unique to begin with. She was the only plant that realized we were going to crash. The only one to react to it. We think maybe she had evolved beyond her bioengineering to something more. When I stepped in. Well, I guess the best way to describe it is that we sort of…," Eleesa paused, looking for the right word to use. "Merged, I guess."

"Huh," Vash looked over her way. "So, what you're saying is that your part plant?"

"Frankly, I'm not sure what I am anymore. All I know Vash, is that I'm definitely not a complete human anymore. But I'm not a complete plant either. So … yeah," she said smiling. "I guess I am part plant."

Vash smiled at her. "Well, it suits you well, what with your hobby of growing plants." Vash made a wide swing of his hand to indicate that he was referring to all the surrounding vegetation.

"Well, after we landed in one piece, more or less, we started building a city and after awhile I decided to go see the planet. So I took as many seeds with me as possible and went wondering around for a long time."

"Till about fifty years ago, when I ended up settling down here." Eleesa stood, brushing the dirt off her hands, and stared into the twin suns blazing down on them. For a brief moment her eyes alit on her own bedroom window and a ghost of a smile flickered across her face.

"So why'd you pick here?" Vash sat down next to the well to rest for a minute.

"Because it's nice and quiet, and it's still close enough to a good sized town that I don't want for anything."

"Huh!" Vash nearly fell from his sitting position at this news. "You mean we've been near a town this whole time and you didn't tell me?" he whined.

Eleesa laughed. It was the first real laugh that Vash had heard from her since the day before when she had told him everything about the fatal accident on board the ship. It made him happy to see her smiling again.

Eleesa looked back at him over her shoulder. "New Maine. It's about a four or five hour drive from here. Why?"

"Well," Vash said scratching his head. "It's just that I have these two friends that will be worried about me and I just think I should let them know that I'm okay."

"Well, there's a run-down jeep around back. I can point you in the right direction. You can go into town and send a letter," she pulled out a small pad of paper and a pen from her back pocket. "And while you're at it, you can pick up some vital essentials for me!"

Vash, who had started to stand up, found himself falling back to the ground again at the suggestion.

After writing up a shopping list for Vash that included foodstuff, bandages, ointments and many other things, Eleesa had brought the jeep around and handed the keys to Vash.

"Now, it's a long drive into town, and this bucket of bolts has a tendency to break down. If it does, take it to Trevor St. James. He's the local mechanic. Can fix just about anything. Also it will probably be easier for you to stay the night in town, pick the stuff up in the morning and then come back tomorrow night. If something happens and you need to stay longer, just call and let me know. Jake Millen runs the local hotel and he'll let you use his phone."

"Also," she continued. "I've filled the water can in the back. Just in case the jeep over heats on you. Make sure that you refill it in town before heading back out here."

"But what about Knives," Vash interrupted. "What if he wakes up?"

"You leave Knives to me. I've gotten pretty damn good at taking care of myself. Besides, if he tries anything…," she let the thought trail before continuing with a wry smirk. "Believe me, I can handle him if he gets out of line."

Vash wondered if the look on his face had given away his sudden tension as she quickly became serious.

"I'm not a cold-blooded killer Vash. Never have been." Seeing that Vash wasn't quite satisfied, she quickly added, with a smile, "I promise, I won't kill him, Vash."

Vash nodded once, got in the car, smiling happily and waving goodbye, he took off. Eleesa stood watching for a few moments as Vash drove away.

"Well, if that isn't a scene to make you cry, I don't know what is."

Eleesa, still sporting her serene, knowing smile, calmly looked back at Knives as he stood leaning on the door frame for support. In his hand was her gun, pointed straight at her head.

"Hmm. I was wondering when you were going to come out of the shadows," she remarked, turning back to watch the dot that was Vash go over the last dune in sight.

* * *

Knives had awoken very suddenly. His body still in pain and covered with sweat. He couldn't remember anything from the dream, but he knew that it had terrified him. And he hated being terrified of anything. Absolutely nothing had scared him since he was a child and Steve had first started terrorizing Vash and he. He'd seen to it that Steve died for that. He would see to it that whoever was responsible for this nightmare would also die. The truth was that even at his most congenial moments, Knives was not a man to be trifled with.

He took a few moments to look around the room he was in. It was a small room, sparsely furnished. There was one table, two chairs, a dresser and the bed he was sitting on. His clothes were draped over one of the two chairs. Moving slowly so as not to incite pain in his extremities, he swung his legs off the bed, stood up and walked over to his clothes. After he was dressed to his satisfaction, he reached down automatically to pick up his gun only to find that it wasn't there.

Knives thrust his fist through the table in sudden rage, breaking it in two.

'_He took my gun!' _

He had been willing to forgive his brother for shooting him the first time. He might even have forgiven him eventually for attacking him back in July City. This last attack, though, was a little less forgivable. But taking his gun? The gun he had made with his own bare hands? _The twin to the gun he'd given Vash?_ That was totally unforgivable. For that transgression, Vash would die. Slowly, and most painfully.

He went out into the hallway and saw the other doors. One of them would be his brother's room. He was sure of it. And he might very well find his gun in there. He tried the room across the hall first and was disappointed to find that it was most likely the one Vash was staying in, yet there was no trace of any guns. In fact, the only evidence of his brother was the wet towels and an unmade bed. He picked up one of the towels and inhaled the fragrance on it. Yes, it was indeed Vash. He'd know his brother's scent anywhere. He dropped the towel on the floor, and stepped back into the hall.

He went down further and entered another room. Here he found a slightly more furnished room. There were a larger dresser in it, and a closet full of women's clothing. As well as a small bookshelf loaded with books of all kinds. A table with two chairs sat under the window and a nightstand with a single drawer sat by the bed. He looked out the window and saw a young woman standing in a garden looking up at the sky. Behind her Vash was sitting by a well. They seemed to be talking about something, but Knives couldn't tell what it was. He quickly stepped away from the window so they wouldn't see him.

'_It wouldn't do for you see me just yet, brother.' _Knives had to admit that this was getting interesting. His brother had brought him someplace with a helpless human in it. Oh, he could have fun with this one. He could make Vash suffer more than he had ever suffered before. Knives walked over to the nightstand and was absolutely delighted when he found a small handgun in its drawer. An evil, insane smile slowly drew across his face.

Knives left the room and slowly began to lumber downstairs. As he reached the sitting room he was temporarily taken aback by the loads of flowers and plants in there. Whoever this woman was, she seemed to have an affinity for plants. Knives let himself have a quiet chuckle.

'_All the better to torture my dearest brother with,'_ he thought.

As he neared the door he heard noises outside. After listening for awhile he became aware that his brother was going into a nearby town and would be gone overnight at the very least. Leaving him, Knives, alone with this tender and sweet young woman. Things just kept getting better and better for him.

He waited for what must have been at least half an hour while this woman, this Eleesa, as he heard Vash call her, got the jeep ready and gave him directions and instructions. But finally Vash left. Knives waited until Vash was well out of ear and eye shot before stepping out. Eleesa was still watching as the jeep drove off in the distance.

"Well," he said aloud. "If that isn't a scene to make you cry, I don't know what is."

Eleesa looked back at Knives as he stood leaning on the door frame for support. He pointed the gun straight at her head.

"Hmm. I was wondering when you were going to come out of the shadows," she remarked, with a slight, easy, smile on her face. She then turned back to watch the dot that was Vash go over the last dune in sight.

"So you did see me in the window. I'm impressed…. By you. Now my brother…." Knives smiled as Eleesa turned back around and faced him fully for the very first time. "I have to say that I am very disappointed in him right now. He should know better than to leave you alone with me. Even if he does think I'm unconscious."

His smile grew even darker. Eleesa merely tilted her head and looked at him for the longest time. Studying every feature of his face before finally commenting, "Is the so?"

Knives grew furious at her blatant disregard for his power over her. He forced himself away from the door frame and leveled the gun more steadily at her.

"Yes," he growled. "And I'll show you why."

He cocked the gun. His finger started to put pressure against the trigger and stopped just short of actually pulling it. Knives stood in stunned silence. Try as he might, he couldn't make his finger pull the trigger. He looked at Eleesa, eyes widening in surprise as his mind was suddenly flooded with memories of his dream. The dream he kept having over and over again while he was unconscious.

"Wh…. Wh…. What," he stammered. "What did you do to me?"

Eleesa smiled at him, her head still cocked to one side.

"Let's just say…I like to protect myself." She started to walk into the house, pausing for only a minute by his side.

"Consider yourself neutered, boy," she whispered in his ear and continued into the house. She was halfway up the stairs when she added, "Indefinitely."

Knives was still standing in the doorway, gun gripped in his hand and aiming at were she had been. As realization dawned, a wide grin slowly spread across his face. And Knives laughed the small quiet laugh of one who's greatest wish had just been granted.

12


	3. To Meet One's Own

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hmmm... Three chapters and no reviews yet. I know that this might be in part because it is rated M, but if you are reading this, please review. I would greatly appreciate it. I will keep posting parts even if you don't, but it would be nice to know what people think of this. Thanks!**_

_**Ormandria**

* * *

_

_Vash's arm seemed to have a mind of its own. The gun in his hand started transforming first and than his right arm after it. They grew and warped together until it was nothing but a pulsating living cannon attached at the shoulder. He felt the power surge through it and knew he would not be able to stop the blast. But he did know he could try to aim it. And aim it he did. Straight at Knives. His only thought was that he needed to stop Knives before he killed anyone else. Knives look of amusement turned to horror as he realized what his brother was about to do. _

"_NO!" he screamed at Vash. But it was too late._

_The blast that shot from the end of what use to be Vash's arm encompassed not only Knives, but the whole room they were in as well. And it grew from there. By the time that the explosion had finished growing, it had taken out almost the entire city of July. _

Knives laughed quietly to himself as he closed the front door. This was going to be very interesting indeed. If there was one thing Knives knew how to do it was to manipulate people and situations to suit his own ends. And if this woman honestly believed that she could stop him that easily she had another thing coming. The way he figured it was that sooner or later she would let her guard down and that was the moment he would pounce. But until than he would play along.

After all, it had been a very long time since he had had a good game of cat and mouse with anyone other than his brother. And Eleesa was definitely already proving herself a worthy opponent. He looked up the stairs she had ascended a few minutes ago and decided to follow. There was no time like the present to start the games.

When he arrived upstairs she was already at the end of the hall in the same room where he had picked up the gun he held now. He walked down the hall to the open door and peaked in.

"What do you want now?" Eleesa asked without looking up from the book she had started reading.

"Oh, I just thought we could give this introduction thing another try," he said in mock sincerity. "We seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot."

Knives sat down at the small table opposite Eleesa and waited. Eleesa looked up from her book long enough to notice that Knives had also put the gun back down on the table and slid it towards her. At which point she closed the book totally and put it down.

"So is this suppose to be your idea of some sort of peace treaty?" she asked nodding at the gun. "You give me my gun back and I forget you broke the table and than tried to kill me?"

"You might say so," he responded. "Or it could simply be that I have no use to carry a gun if I can't even shoot it."

"Which," he continued. "Brings me to my next observation. That is a very interesting talent you have. Getting into peoples minds and adjusting things to suit your needs. Does my brother know you do that?"

Eleesa leaned across the table and smiled. "What makes you think that I did it?"

"Because my brother has neither the talent nor the guts to do something like this himself," he smiled back.

"Ah. Well, you're right." She leaned back against her chair. "I did it. And no, your brother doesn't know I can. After all, he probably would have tried to stop me if he known. Don't you think?"

"Yes," admitted Knives. "He would have. And we wouldn't want him to do that now would we? Of course, if Vash _did_ know, I doubt he would have been able to do anything anyway. I mean, he is nothing more than a child in a grown man's body. With his simple-minded beliefs that the world is all sugar plums and fairies."

Eleesa noted the distain in Knives voice as he finished the sentence.

"And let's face it," Knives continued. "That makes him weak. And as such, he is also useless. Always has been, always will be. And I have no intention of letting him continue in his uselessness."

Eleesa nodded. "I see. So because he believes in peace and doing what is right, he has nothing to offer the world?" she asked.

Knives leaned back in his chair, happier than before. "Now you've got it!" he said.

He could have sworn that at this point for the briefest of moments some other emotion flickered across Eleesa's face. But it had come and gone so quickly that he was never able to tell what it was or if he had in fact seen correctly. Because immediately afterward, her face was back to the serene and knowing smile that had been there since he had confronted her downstairs.

Whatever game this woman was up too, Knives suddenly felt like he might actually be the prey. It was a feeling that even Vash had never been able to instill in him. But he kept it to himself and continued to carry on as if nothing had happened.

"Anyone who believes in peace is a fool and my dear brother, as smart as he may be, is the worst of the lot. He seems to be under the misapprehension that he is in the same class as you mere humans," Knives chuckled. "And humans are now and always will be nothing."

Eleesa got up and retrieved the gun from the table and turned to put it away in a dresser on the other side of the room.

"Well then," she said after a few moments. "I guess that makes you even less of nothing. I mean after all, if Vash _is_ nothing, as you say he is, and he managed to bring you down, than he _has_ to be better than you. Ergo, you, Knives are _less then nothing_." The last word was filled with a combination of condescension and pity.

"My brother was lucky. That is all," he said in a dangerously low voice. "And he will pay for it."

The smile dropped from Eleesa's face as she turned around and regarded Knives. "If I were you I would worry more about what others might do to you than about what you plan on doing to your brother."

Knives met her stare eye to eye and for what seemed like an exceedingly long time neither of them even so much as blinked. Finally Knives broke out laughing. "I like you," he said getting up. "This is definitely going to be a very interesting next few days."

With that Knives left the room and went back to the room he had awoken in and sat down on the bed, looking at the broken table, still laughing quietly to himself. He had to admit that more he talked to this woman, the more impressed he was with her. She sure wasn't afraid of him. That much he could tell.

There had been something in her eyes, for a very brief second. But it wasn't fear. It was something else. Something more dangerous. And Knives knew dangerous. He had, after all, brought together and created the Gung-Ho Guns and it didn't get more dangerous than that. So why was it that he had the feeling that Eleesa could make Legato look like a harmless little dog compared to her? He was beginning to wonder if it wouldn't be better to bring her around to his way of thinking rather than to kill her. She would make a fantastic replacement for the deceased Legato. And that would be an even better way to get to Vash. He would never expect Knives to do that.

'_Yes,'_ he thought to himself. It was perfect. Even if it was going to take more planning than he had initially thought.

* * *

Eleesa watched Knives walk out of the room. She waited until he was out of earshot and than cursed to herself. She had almost lost it. For a brief second she had felt herself let go, and had just barely managed to catch herself as it happened. But it had been enough. She knew he had seen it. She just wasn't sure he knew what it was. Eleesa had become very good at masking her emotions over the years.

She had learned to do that out of self-preservation. It wasn't that she didn't want people to see what she was really feeling. Although in the case of Knives, it helped immensely that he couldn't. It was more that this was the only way she could control the feelings she got off of others. If she didn't watch herself around others, she would not only know what they felt, but she would start feeling it herself.

And when that happened, it was bad. Knives was a vain creature that liked to pounce when given a chance, and any sign of weakness on her part could very well provide that chance. It was something that she wasn't about to let happen.

When she had been in his head the other night, she had done more than just adjust his mind so he couldn't hurt anyone. She had very carefully looked over his entire life. After all, she always liked to know who she was dealing with. And Vash had not been over-exaggerating when he said Knives was a ruthless killer. If anything, he had understated the exact extent of Knives madness.

A normal mind was one that was whole with only a few fragments here and there where tragedy had occurred in that person's life. But Knives mind? It had been like a giant jigsaw puzzle that had never quite gotten put together correctly in the first place. And than someone had come along and shattered it.

She had a pretty good idea of who that was too. She had also seen that in his mind. For a brief moment it had almost made her feel sorry for Knives really. He had only been a child when it had happened.

But the feeling was gone now. The fact was that Knives was not someone to take lightly. And letting herself feel sorry for him over something like that would only give him the upper hand.

And than there was Vash.

What would happen once he got back? She couldn't very well push Knives beyond his limit in order to break him while Vash was sitting here. He would never allow it. He loved his brother too much to believe that he needed to be torn apart mentally and emotionally before he could begin to heal from the horrors of his past.

And Eleesa knew he did. She knew this from experience. She had been forced through it herself, although she had to go through most of it alone.

Humans had never been meant to be immortal. Yet fate had put her in the position to where she had essentially become just that. Immortal. Oh, she could die … if someone killed her. But for all intents and purposes she had stopped aging the day she merged with the plant.

At first, after the initial shock of that and the trauma of Jack's death, it had been fine. The first few years of life on this planet had gone much better than expected. But then everyone around her got old. And as they aged, they died. Suddenly faced with the realization that everyone she cared about would be long gone while she was still young and active, she had essentially had a slow nervous breakdown.

First had come the bitterness and jealousy. Watching people as they fell in love and grew old together. Lived out their lives together and had families, living with the knowledge that their children would be there long after they were gone. A guarantee she could not be given even if she did have kids. Then came the anger and rage at the fact that these simple things had been taken from her so quickly.

Last came the hatred and contempt. And with them, her world had fallen apart. Every other emotion in her just sort of shut down after that, leaving nothing behind but that burning ember of hate for all other people. She wanted nothing more to do with any of them. She came here and surrounded herself with plants. They only living things you could trust and count on. They became her only connection to anything outside of her own head.

True, things could have been worse. She hadn't become quite the psychotic killer that Knives had. But that was only because she had never felt too inclined to purposefully force herself into the same situation that had happened with Jack and that feeling of having a part of her very soul ripped away as he died. Although she had since had much worse experiences that made that one look like a cake-walk.

There had been that one incident, shortly after she had first cultivated this small piece of land. She shuddered at the memory and quickly pushed it back out of her mind.

Then there had been July. And everything had changed. And for the first time she had truly begun to view her situation differently. She had realized that it was a fact of life that could not be changed. Her anger and bitterness had eaten away at her so much that there was almost nothing left when Jake Millen had found her. She realized that she was slowly killing herself. It was hard for her to not want to act on the feeling to hurry things up and end what she saw as a miserable life. But she had not counted on the strength and belief that Jake Millen held in her, or on actually making friends with the people in New Maine.

It took many years for her to finally get to the point were she was now, where she could look at her life as more a blessing than a curse, and to realize just how delicate and wonderful life could still be. But she was here now, and if she had any say in it, she would pull Knives through to that point. It was the least she could do.

If she failed though, she knew that there could be only one of two recourses. Either she would have to kill Knives, or he would kill her. The idea of dying didn't bother her at all. After all, she had already faced death more than once. So it no longer held any fear for her. Though, the idea of killing Knives was different. If she were forced to do that then…. Well, it was a matter that would be moot until it actually developed.

The main point was that to help Knives she needed more than the two days that Vash's trip to New Maine had bought her.

She had no idea how to get that extra time either. Once Vash knew Knives was awake, he would probably come rushing back. Any excuses or ploys to stall would most likely just make him suspicious and want to get back even faster.

Eleesa stared out her window thinking for a few minutes. Finally deciding that the best approach would be the direct approach, she went down to the kitchen to make a phone call.

* * *

The jalopy rocked underneath him as Vash drove through the desert. He still wasn't quite sure what to think of Eleesa. His brain kept telling him that she hadn't told him the whole story. But at the same time, his heart kept telling him to trust her. That he would get his answers soon enough. He was also a bit worried about leaving her alone with the unconscious Knives, but again, something deep inside of him told him that she would be okay. Vash figured that if there were anyone else on this planet that could handle Knives, Eleesa was that person.

Vash purged all thoughts of Knives from his mind as New Maine came into view ahead of him. It was a bit bigger than he thought it would be. It looked like there were at least a hundred people living in the town. He could see from the distance the plants that surrounded the town, along with three separate radio towers.

A huge building in the very center of town appeared to be either a large mansion or an extravagant hotel leaving one with the impression that the town had been built around the building instead of inside the circumference of the plants. A rather large fountain fronted the building with two rather large trees on either side of it. In addition to those trees, small saplings lined some of the streets. All in all Vash was very impressed. It seemed like it had been forever since he had seen a town so well built and managed. Apparently, whoever had control over the water in this area had no problem whatsoever with sharing it with the rest of the town.

Vash no sooner got into town than something small and fast hit the front of the jeep. The jeep than gave a loud bang, a small puff of smoke and died. Vash got out and went around to the front of the jeep to see what had happened and noticed a small red ball rolling away from the jalopy. He bent and picked the ball up just as the owners came running up behind him.

"Hey mister!" one of them yelled. "Can we have our ball back?"

"Sure," laughed Vash as he turned around to hand it to the boy who had asked. He looked to be about ten and had short brown hair and brown eyes. There was a little girl with him that looked like a smaller version, no older than six. She was grasping a small teddy bear in front of her and smiling.

The boy thanked Vash and than ran back to where a small group of other children were waiting for him and the ball to continue playing. Vash looked down at the girl who just continued to smile up at him saying nothing.

"Hello there," he said, bending down to her level. "What's your name?"

"Kalla," she said.

"Kalla," Vash repeated. "That's a pretty name. Aren't you going to go back and play with your friends?"

Kalla shook her head. "No. I wanna watch you."

Vash laughed and scratched the back of his head. "There really isn't that much to see here."

"That's okay," she replied, standing there and watching him.

Vash just smiled and turned back to the jalopy and lifted the hood. He dropped it back down almost immediately. "HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT!" he screamed.

Looking at the jeep he realized that the small puff of smoke had been misleading. There was now steam and smoke pouring out everywhere. Vash coughed and tried to wave it away in vain. Behind him the little girl laughed.

"The ball broke your car!" Kalla squealed.

"Yeah," Vash laughed. "It seems it did." He turned back around and crotched in front of the little girl again.

"Say, can you tell me where to find a Mr. St. James?" he asked.

Kalla nodded vigorously. "He's my dad. Come on and I'll take you to him!" She grabbed Vash's hand and started running before he had even had the chance to stand up off the ground.

* * *

Vash watched the man as the mechanic looked under the hood of the jeep.

"Well," he said in a somber voice. "I don't think your going to be going anywhere in this hunk of junk anytime soon."

"What do you mean?" Vash asked. "Can't you fix it?"

"Oh sure. I can fix it. But it'll take a few days." Trevor motioned for Vash to come around and look under the hood.

Vash sighed as he saw the shape that the engine was in. It looked as if it should have died years ago.

"Oh man," he said.

"Don't know why the hell Eleesa insists on keeping this piece of scrap metal," Trevor continued. "Should have gotten rid of it ages ago, but she's a stubborn one that girl."

Vash looked at Trevor for a moment. "How'd you know it belonged to her?" he asked.

"Easy," came the reply. "I've spent more time on this one jeep alone than all the other vehicles that come through here put together." He laughed slightly and than looked back at Vash. "You got a place to stay?"

Vash shook his head no. "Eleesa mentioned there was a hotel around here, but I haven't had a chance to go check in."

"That'd be Jake's place. It's the big mansion in the center of town. Can't miss it. Got all those trees surrounding it." Trevor looked at his daughter and continued, "Kalla, why don't you show our guest here where it is."

"Okay Daddy!" she replied. She'd been watching everything from the sidelines with rapt attention. In fact, she hadn't taken her eyes off of Vash since she had first seen him.

"Come ON Mister!" she cried as she once again grab Vash's arm and started dragging him in the direction of the hotel. Her father just chuckled as he watched.

* * *

Meryl Strife wasn't the type of woman to give up easily. She had waited him out before and she would do so again. She _would_ see Vash again. She would make sure of it. She and Millie had been waiting in this town for going on six months and although Meryl was worried about Vash, something deep inside told her that he was still alright. For now anyway.

She found herself wondering if he had found Knives yet and if so what had happened. Meryl also knew that trying to redeem Knives was going to be an almost impossible task. For a brief moment her mind wondered back to Legato, Knives second in command and the only person she had ever seen Vash kill. He had done so to save her and Millie's lives. If he hadn't Legato would have had a mob of men under his mental control rape and kill them both. She shuddered at the thought and suddenly found herself more worried than before.

Knives was the closest thing to pure evil that existed on this planet. She was sure of it. He was also one of the reasons Vash had a 60 billion double-dollar bounty on his head. Although she also knew that no one could ever capture Vash the Stampede long enough to actually collect that bounty.

Meryl sat looking at her type writer and noticed for the first time that all she had typed was Vash's name. She sighed and laid her head on the table as Millie walked in with dinner.

"Are you alright Meryl?" Millie asked.

Meryl sighed and looked up. "Just a bit tired Millie. That's all. It's been a long day."

"Oh," Millie said. "I thought you were thinking of Mister Vash again."

Millie looked over Meryl's shoulder and pointed to the typewriter.

"That is what you were writing after all. Vash, Vash, Vash, Vash, Vash, Vash, Vash …," Millie continued in a sing-song voice.

"_Millie!"_ Meryl yelled as she tried to cover up the typewriter with her body. _"Hasn't anyone ever told you it's rude to look over someone's shoulder?"_

"I'm sorry Meryl," Millie said as she backed away. "It's just that it's been six months now and I'm starting to get worried. And I figured if I was getting worried, than you must be really worried by now."

Meryl sighed and looked up at Millie. "You're right Millie. I'm sorry." She switched her gaze to look out the window of their room. "I am getting worried. I was sure we'd have heard from him by now."

* * *

Kalla led Vash to the large building that he had seen on his way into town. When they entered it was to a large comfortably furnished lobby with a grand staircase leading up to the second and third floors. There were two doors on the left, one opened to an equally large dining room and the second closed, with no idea of where it might lead. On the right a wall had been knocked out so that the room behind it was opened the full-width. Inside were a couple of desks and another door in the back that most likely lead to a more private office.

"Jake! Customer!" Kalla yelled, leaving Vash standing in the middle of the opulent lobby as she ran into the office setting. Sure enough, before she reached the back door, an older gentleman, who appeared to be in his fifties came out of the door.

"Kalla," he chided. "How many times have I told you not to run around here yelling? One of these days you're going to upset one of my customers young lady."

"But Jake, that's what I was trying to tell you! I've got a customer for you right here." She pointed back at Vash, who simply waved from where he was standing. Jake smiled and walked forward.

"Hi there," Jake nodded, holding his hand out for Vash to shake. "I'm Jake Millan, and you must be Vash. Eleesa called and said you might be stopping by."

Kalla looked up at Vash in awe.

"Vash?" she stammered. "As in Vash the Stampede?"

"Yup," he laughed. "That's me alright."

The young girl developed a sudden look of disgust on her face. "I thought you wore a long red coat!"

Smiling, Vash bent down to look Kalla in the face. "I did, but I dropped it in the desert sometime back."

"Oh," she said, not totally satisfied with his answer. "Well in that case I suppose it's alright."

"Here now, Kalla," Jake interrupted. "Why don't you go play with your brothers? Mr. Vash and I have some business to discuss."

"Okay," she sighed. "But don't you go anywhere Mr. Stampede! You have to play promise to play ball with my brothers and I. That way you can be on my team and we can beat 'em!"

"Okay," he said as he shook Kalla's hand. "It's a promise."

Finally satisfied, she nodded and ran out the door. Vash stood and looked at Jake Millan. For someone operating such a large establishment, he was dressed very low-key. He was wearing old work slacks and somewhat stained, old white shirt. Though he had a very easy-going manner about him.

"Well Mr. Vash, welcome to the New Maine Hotel."

"Please, call me Vash. No need for formalities."

"Very well," smiled Jake. "And you can call me Jake. I set up a room for ya, already. I hope you don't mind." He began leading Vash up the main stairs.

"Not at all," Vash replied. "Though I have to admit, that I am slightly surprised. Usually when people find out who I am they try to run me out of town, not put me up at nice hotels."

Jake laughed. "Well that's because of Eleesa actually. She believes that Vash the Stampede is good at heart, so therefore, so do we."

"You mean everyone in town thinks I'm good, based solely on the word of a woman who doesn't even live here?"

Pausing in mid-step, Jake looked back at Vash, his face serious. "Yes, actually. Eleesa has her own reasons for living so far out of town. But she's a good person and if she says your trustworthy, then you're trustworthy. No question about it." He smiled and turning back, continued up the stairs once again.

"Besides," Jake commented in an off-hand manner. "If this place ends up destroyed, we'll just send the bill to you."

Vash tripped as he heard this, falling to the stairs. "And I don't even have insurance," he said meekly.


	4. Games

**_AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yeah! I finally got a review! Now I am happy. LOL Seriously, I am glad that this is getting read. I started it about a year ago and it is taking a long time, but I really do want to see this fanfic through to the end. And reviews help me to stay on the ball. _**

**_Channeling Nightow? I wish! I can only hope that I am doing justice to him and these wonderful creations of his. Heard there is going to be a Trigun Movie coming out at some point and am seriously looking forward to it!_**

**_Anyway, I just wanted to say that I hope you all like this chapter. The chapter that would not end, so to speak. I had a difficult time deciding which of the last three scenes I wanted to end with, and finally decided that I wanted them all in this chapter. I am also particulary fond of the back and forth repertoire between Knives and Eleesa (pronounced E-Lease-Ah for those that were wondering), in regards to the spider and the plant, even though it ends with a joke. Had to put it in though. It is a small fact that has been bothering me since I first started watching the series on Adult Swim so long ago. Had to pay homage to it._**

**_Anyway, thank you for your patronage!_**

**_Ormandria_

* * *

**

Vash couldn't help but drop his jaw as he looked around the room. He had never seen anything quite this extravagant in his life. At least, not when it came to rooms he would actually be sleeping in. A cushy chair, a coffee table and a soft mattress bed were just the starters. It also had its own private bathroom and a large wardrobe with a soft terry cloth robe in it.

"There's a phone downstairs if you need it and a radio transmitter as well. Eleesa mentioned you were wanting to get a letter out to some friends. If you don't mind others knowing what's on your mind, it might be quicker to just send a telegram via the transmitter."

"Really?" asked Vash, surprised. "Gee, thanks! I think I'd like to do that now if you don't mind."

"Not at all. And Eleesa asked me to tell you she wants you to give her a call once you get all that stuff done. No need to hurry though, she said."

"Oh, okay." Vash followed Jake back downstairs to the main desk in the office area. On a small side table sat the radio transmitter that Jake had mentioned. Jake sat down at the desk and started fiddling with the knobs.

"What town are your friends located in?" he asked Vash. Vash told him and Jake made the necessary twists. "It'll have to go through a couple of other towns first, but it should be there within a couple of hours," he told Vash when he was finished.

Then he grabbed the microphone and headpiece. "'lo, John? I got someone that needs to send a telegram through to some people. Let me put him on. Here ya go," he said, handing the gear to Vash.

"Thanks."

Vash took them and began sending his message to Meryl, while Jake left the room to give him some privacy. When he was done, he felt rather proud of himself. At least now he didn't need to worry about Meryl and Millie getting worried about him.

* * *

Knives came downstairs a few hours later when the smell of food sent his stomach growling to be fed. He had spent the time thinking things over and trying to formulate a plan to get to Eleesa. But he had to temporarily give up on it until he had a chance to get to know her a bit better. The problem was that she did not react to things like a normal person would, so before Knives could co-op her to his way of thinking, he had to know what made her tick first.

He sat down at the table and studied her as she finished up the cooking.

"Is something bothering you?" she asked without looking back at him.

"No," he said casually. "Just waiting for you to finish. I'm a bit hungry and I assume you are going to feed me. After all, you wouldn't want me to starve to death. Now would you?" Knives waited a moment as Eleesa thought the prospect over.

Finally she sighed. "No. I suppose not. Although it would be tempting," she said wistfully, earning a slight chuckle from Knives. Maybe she'd be easier to co-op then he had thought.

Eleesa set two plates full of food down on the table before turning to grab two glasses of water for her and Knives. It took her only a moment, but by the time she returned Knives had already started eating.

His manner of eating was a great improvement over Vash's. Especially considering he had been unconscious for heaven only knew how long. She was sure that his previous fever, coupled with the fact that he still hadn't eaten after he had awakened, had not helped any. Still he actually used the utensils that had been set out and ate with an air of quiet dignity that was usually more the mark of a refined land baron than a sociopath.

Knives looked over at her as she sat down.

"What now?" she asked him.

"You're a good cook," he responded. "Ever think of taking it to a professional level?"

"What and miss out on my chance to torture a sick soul like yourself? Never," she smiled ruthlessly.

Knives couldn't quite tell if she was serious or joking. Either way, it was proving enjoyable. "You know," he said, raising his glass in a toast. "I think I could get to like you."

He knew the moment he said it that it wasn't going to wash with her. That was all right though. It was a mere test in the waters. Most people enjoyed having their egos stroked. This time it simply wasn't going to work. Eleesa was not one to cater to her own ego. Instead she leaned forward slightly and spoke in a voice tinged with mock pity.

"I'm afraid the feeling isn't mutual. You are a bug to me Knives. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Touché," he nodded and went back to his eating. A few moments later the phone began to ring.

"And that would be your brother, I'm guessing," Eleesa commented, standing up to answer it. "Hello?"

"Hi, Eleesa?" Vash's voice came crackling through the other end. "Jake said you wanted me to call you as soon as I got settled in, so I'm calling."

"Yes, I did," she replied. "How are things going?"

"Pretty well," he answered. "Though, your car over-heated as I hit town, so I'll have to stay here over night while Mr. St. James works on it."

"That's okay. It tends to do that a lot," Eleesa chuckled, before turning more serious. "Listen Vash, I called because I thought you should know that you're brother is awake." There was a long pause on the other end.

"Vash?" she finally asked when it seemed he wasn't going to speak.

"Are you alright?" he asked, all humor and lightness gone from his voice.

"Yes, I'm fine. And so is he. Would you like to talk to him?"

"Uh, sure," Vash said, sounding anything but sure. Eleesa held the handset to the phone out for Knives. He simply looked at her, then sighing, he got up and took the phone.

"Ah, brother dear. How are you?" he sneered into the phone.

"Knives …," Vash murmured.

"Yes, brother, that is my name. Now do you remember what yours is?" Knives didn't bother trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

"Uh … I … that is … Eleesa …," Knives knew immediately what Vash was getting at and cut him off.

"Yes, Ms. Eleesa. She's standing right here, pretty as ever. Don't worry brother, I don't plan on hurting a hair on her head."

"As if you could," Eleesa said loudly enough for Vash to pick up. Knives laughed. "She is definitely a card, you know that? I'm going to have to keep her around for awhile just to keep me entertained."

"She's a person Knives, not a toy," Vash regained his voice and composure.

"Do tell. Do tell."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because I like it. Don't you like it Vash? Our little games?"

"You're sick Knives." Was that concern in Vash's voice. Knives scoffed at it.

"You know, Eleesa said the same thing. Only when she said it, it was more of a fact and less of a concern. You could take a page out of her book."

"That's it!" Eleesa exclaimed in frustration. She yanked the phone out of Knives hand as he continued laughing.

"Vash, would you mind staying in New Maine for another couple of weeks or so?"

"What? Why?"

"Well, your brother is going to have to stay here while he heals and it just occurred to me that having you two under the same roof might impede that very process."

"Oh yes, Vash. Please leave me here alone with Eleesa! I am so looking forward to getting to know her better!" Knives called from the background.

"Oh for the love of … Just shut up already!" Eleesa retorted, exasperated.

"Are you sure?" Vash asked.

"Yes, Vash, I'm positive. He'll heal much quicker if you two aren't busy fighting each other."

"Alright then," Vash replied. "If you're positive. Just do me a favor and call me if you need anything."

"I will. And thanks for understanding Vash. Talk to you later."

"Yeah, talk to you later." A slight chill crept down Vash's spin. True, something in the sound of Eleesa's voice as she yelled at Knives, made Vash feel a bit better, and then there was the fact that she was half plant. So why was he still so nervous about the idea?

Jake walked back into the room from the back office caring some papers that he was looking at.

"Done with your call already?" he asked.

Vash nodded.

"Looks like I'll be staying in town for a bit longer then I expected," he forced a laugh.

"Stay as long as you need to. Not like we have people vying to stay here right now," Jake smiled in return.

Nodding, Vash turned and walked back up to his room, not saying another word.

* * *

"So, what now?" Knives asked from his seat at the table. "We play house until my dear, sweet, naive brother comes back to rescue one of us?"

Eleesa shrugged. "Or until he comes back to kill one of us," she smirked sardonically.

"Never happen," he retorted, leaning forward as Eleesa sat back down at the table to finish eating. "You see, Vash doesn't just believe in peace, he actually strives for it in every aspect of his life. The man can't even bring himself to hurt a fly."

"In fact," Knives continued, in a matter of fact tone, as he made to finish eating as well. "He once became mad at me for killing a spider that was about to eat a butterfly. Thought there was a way to save them both."

"Can't," Eleesa said without thinking. "If you save the butterflies and all the other insects, the spider will starve."

Knives grinned. "Funny, that was what I told him and I got punched for it."

"Of course, the other option would be for the spider to adapt to its new environment," she continued as though he hadn't said a word.

"Oh? And how would it do that?"

"It could always learn to eat plants," she eyed Knives cunningly. It wasn't a threat or even a challenge, but a game of words. A game to see who would flinch first. A shiver of pleasure ran down Knives back as he smiled, savoring the danger of a game filled with innuendos.

"True," he remarked. "But then if the spider isn't careful, those plants just might decide to bite back."

"So it becomes a matter of survival?" she asked.

"Why yes," Knives said. "Survival of the fittest. Who should be allowed to survive and who should be returned to ground."

"Because obviously they can't survive together," Eleesa returned.

"Oh, they might be able to. But only if they both decided to start eating the same things."

"And by that you would mean insects?"

"Insects, or possibly even plants."

"Ah, a cannibalistic plant. Now why does that suggestion not surprise me."

"Because you are a woman who knows the way of the world and how things work," Knives nodded in respect, but Eleesa simply shook her head.

"Wouldn't happen though, unless drastic measures were taken. Or at least that's what I'm guessing."

"A fact, that is sad, but true. Which brings us back to survival of the fittest," Knives smiled.

This time Eleesa returned his smile. "Well then, I guess we'll just have to wait and see who has the greater desire to survive."

Knives lifted an eyebrow ruefully and laughed.

"Then we shall, as they say, let the games begin." He lifted his cup up in a toast to Eleesa and their mutual understanding.

"Oh, I think they already have," she replied, lifting her own cup with his before both took long drinks from them.

Eleesa lowered her cup and brought a fork-full of food up to her mouth when she suddenly stopped. She looked over at Knives who was also in mid-bite, her face screwed up in a slight look of confusion.

"What's wrong?" he raised his fork to eye level as though something might jump out of it.

"It just occurred to me," Eleesa spoke in a quiet voice full of thought. "Your brother, Vash, he eats meat."

"So?" Knives asked feeling slightly off-put now. It wasn't just the abrupt change in conversation, but Eleesa's manner had changed as well. The fiery, goading spirit that had inhabited her a moment ago had given way to a more ordinary, and slightly worried demeanor.

"Well…. It's just that …. The man won't kill a spider, but he'll eat meat. I mean, where does he think meat comes fr…." Eleesa shook her head, as she regarded Knives. "You know what? I don't want to know."

Knives put down his own fork as the pair continued to stare at each others food. Several seconds passed as Knives pondered what Eleesa had just said. It was absurd really, when he thought about it, but then it really didn't surprise him at all that Vash didn't stop to think about what he was doing when he was eating meat and eggs and such. The utter irony of the thought broke through and Knives fell into the first fit of genuine laughter he had had in decades, with Eleesa following suit herself.

* * *

"Meryl!" Millie yelled as she ran up to her friend and co-worker.

"What is it Millie?" Meryl was busy busing tables for the dinner crowd at the small restaurant that she was currently waitressing at. It wasn't her normal job. Normally she was an insurance adjuster for the Bernardelli Insurance Company and Millie was her assistant. Their job was to follow Vash the Stampede and keep tabs on any destruction that might be caused by him. They had decided long before that any damage caused by the Humanoid Typhoon was not to be covered by them. It was simply too expensive.

Lately though, with Vash out after his brother, there hadn't been much for them to do, so the pair had taken on various jobs to pass the time. For Millie, it was any odd jobs that might make use of her supreme strength, and with Meryl it meant becoming a waitress temporarily. It was fine though. They were both enjoying the jobs and the people immensely. It also helped, in Meryl's case, to keep her mind off of Vash.

"It's a telegram from Mr. Vash!" Millie waved the envelope in front of Meryl's face, nearly causing her to drop the loaded tray of hot food she was carrying.

"Well silly, don't just stand there. Read it to me already," Meryl replied as she started handing out the food to the customers.

"Alright!" Millie tore open the envelope with great gusto and began to read aloud.

"Dear Meryl and Millie, Hey, Meryl he sent it to both of us!"

"Millie!"

"Oh right, sorry. A-hem. Dear Meryl and Millie. Doing fine, stop. Found Knives, stop."

"Well that's a relief," interjected Meryl.

"We are staying in New Maine for a while with Ms. Eleesa, stop."

Meryl stopped what she was doing and turned toward Millie, who continued.

"She's a very nice lady, who lives here, stop. Like a beautiful blossoming rose in the middle of the desert, stop. She has said we can stay with her as long as necessary, which is very good, as I do not know how long we will need to be here, stop."

The now empty tray slid slowly from Meryl's hand, landing with a loud clang onto the floor below. She began to laugh coldly.

"Might be here a while, so try not to worry too much, stop. I hope all is well with you, stop. Will write again later, your friend Vash, stop. Isn't that just so nice of Mr. Vash Meryl? To let us know that he's doing so well. And he found his brother too. Isn't that nice? Meryl?" Millie looked at Meryl, who stood stalk still, her right eye twitching violently.

"Ms. Eleesa, huh?" Meryl asked in a slightly angry voice. "Beautiful, blossoming rose? That … He … I'm … I'm … _I'm going to kill him!_"

"Come on Millie!" She quickly grabbed Millie's arm, dragging the taller woman as she stomped out of the restaurant.

"Um, where are we going?" Millie asked, trying to keep up with Meryl and her own arm.

"To pack! And then we're going to hop the first Sand-Steamer to New Maine!"

* * *

After they had finished with dinner, Eleesa had set to cleaning the dishes while Knives availed himself of a self-tour of his would-be, albeit temporary, residence. He still found himself chuckling every once in a while over Eleesa's acute observation of Vash. In a strange way it had been nice to laugh like that. It had broken a bit of the tension between the two and with any luck would make his new prey that much more susceptible to him.

Even if it didn't at least he knew that she did have more then two emotions in her. Those two emotions being "annoyed" and "unconcerned." With what he had planned he would need to see her as she was when she wasn't on the defensive.

He walked past the plant room into the main entry-way. There was a door on the other side of the wall and a long hallway to the right of the stairs leading up.

After a moment he decided to follow the hallway first. He had already seen upstairs, so there was no need to re-acquaint himself with that. Down the hall were two more doors. One led to a room that Knives took to be the study. A large desk with a matching chair sat in the middle of the room, while two more over-sized, cushioned chairs took up space in two of the study's corners. Again, shelves had been built into each of the walls, but while the shelves in the other room were crowded with plants, these were crowded with books of almost every shape and size, with only a few plants sitting in-between. The only exception to this was the extra-large curtained window that was set into the wall directly behind the desk. There was a small sapling in an urn in another one of the corners, while a standing lamp stood in the last corner.

Knives walked to the desk, looking at the various artifacts that were laid out upon it. A smaller version of the corner lamp was in the upper right hand corner, and Knives noted that both were oil lamps, like the rest of the light in the house. He nodded in satisfaction. She apparently did not like having to depend upon the Plants for anything, save her radio and phone. He wasn't quite sure why, but the thought made him smile.

There was an ink well and pen set into the desk, and a large heavy mat that was covered in dry ink stains. Other then that the desk was bare. Moving to the open window, he looked out on the large garden that Vash and Eleesa had been working in earlier that day. He could see the trees lining up in the background as the set. There was no doubt that during the day, the light that filtered through this window would be more then enough to keep it bright.

A slight breeze wafted in and his heightened sense of smell picked up all the wonderful scents of the plants outside. Knives had to admit to himself that the woman definitely knew what she was doing when it came to plants. Not a single stench of rot or mildew carried on the air.

He turned back to the desk and began rifling through the drawers in the hope that they might give him some insight into Eleesa that he could use against her. Much to his annoyance, they only proved a haven for miscellaneous puzzles, pens, pencils and more books. There didn't seem to be anything of any great importance, and the books that he found in the desk, as well as those on the shelves, where so diverse in their themes, that they too, offered nothing more then the knowledge that Eleesa liked to read. In fact most of the books looked well-worn, with some being held together by bits of glue or string.

Knives left the room and turned right and opened the second door. It led to the outside where he could see a barn in the not-too-far distance that he had missed before. He made a mental note to check that out later, when there was more light.

Going back down the hall he stopped by the door to the only room that he had yet to inspect. Turning the handle though proved fruitless. The door was locked.

"That's my junk room," Eleesa explained as she walked into the hall from the plant room. She was busy drying her hands on a towel as she spoke. "It's where all my junk goes when it becomes useless."

"Oh? And yet, you still keep it all. And in a locked room no less."

"What can I say? I'm a sentimental old softy that way."

"Hmm. Why don't I believe you?" Knives turned to look at her.

"Because one day and you already know me too well I guess," Eleesa laughed sarcastically. "You're right though. Sentimentality has very little to do with that room. But you are wrong if you think that there is anything of value in there. I promise you that it is indeed just a bunch of junk."

"So do I get to see it?" he pushed.

Eleesa shrugged. "At some point, maybe. Depends on how well you can behave and whether or not I decide to throw you in there as well."

"So now I'm to behave like some mutt on a leash?"

"Well I am the one that holds the key to your mind right now, aren't I Fido?"

Knives narrowed his eyes at the insult.

"Hey," Eleesa grinned. "You're the one that likened yourself to a mutt. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to clean myself up. I trust that you can handle yourself for the rest of the night?"

Knives watched in silence as Eleesa walked up the stairs, making her way to the bathroom at the back. When he heard he close the door and turn the water on he turned his own attention back to the locked door. He tapped on it lightly. The door seemed solid enough, but he was sure that he would have no trouble breaking it down if he wanted to. He set his shoulder against it, ready to pull back and thrust through when his body stopped, just as it had earlier when he had tried to pull the trigger on his gun.

Damn it, she was good! It seemed that Eleesa liked to keep all her bases covered. She had apparently figured that he would try to break into this room and had decided to fix it so that he couldn't when she had fixed it so he couldn't kill anyone. It made him wonder what else she had "fixed" while she had been in his head. Knives lifted his hand to his head and felt a slight shine of sweat. He punched his hand against the wall, causing it to shudder under the force.

He hated the idea that she could enter his head and get to him so easily. When he did manage to bring her around to his way of thinking, he would definitely have to keep an eye on her. Until then, would just have to continue to play along. But not before testing a few more boundaries. With one last look at the door, Knives headed outside to see just how far away from the house he could walk in any one direction. After all, it was good to know one's limits.

* * *

Eleesa lay down in her bed and allowed herself a slight smile. The call had gone better then she had hoped. She knew that if Knives and Vash talked, the former wouldn't be able to help but to try and bait his brother, giving her the perfect opportunity to suggest that Vash stay in town awhile longer. She wondered briefly if Knives even realized how easy it was to play him, but then decided no. The man was too obsessed with playing his brother and other people. His ego would not allow for him to even consider that someone else could so easily manipulate him.

Closing her eyes, Eleesa let her mind drift away briefly. She could feel Knives wondering through the garden, making his way back to the house. She wondered how far he had gone before he realized that he had started walking in circles around the house.

She had set a one-half mile limit for him, but she also knew that the terrain around her house could fool even the hardiest natured of men into going in circles. A half-mile had seemed appropriate at the time. It was just enough to give him a slight sense of freedom, but still close enough to keep him on his leash.

Eleesa could feel a strong sense of satisfaction coming off of him know. It was mixed into the torrent of other emotions that raged inside of him. It was an odd mix of emotions, mostly hatred, anger and amusement, but buried deep beneath it all, was the salty, sweaty taste of fear. So deep was it buried that even Knives was not willing to admit that it was there, but there it lay. Eleesa's grin broadened. The seed she had planted was already bearing fruit. Now all she had to do was find a way to feed that fear.

Closing her eyes, satisfied herself, with the days work, Eleesa allowed herself to drift off into sleep.

* * *

For Kable Grant, it was all about the money. How much money he could get, and how fast and easy he could get it. He was the youngest of all six members of the Gunrit Gang. He was also considered the brains of the operation, and was, by far, the least intimidating of them all. At least, he was until you got to know him. As second in command, he was the one that decided what towns the gang hit for a good haul. He and one or two of the others would go into a town to scout, while the rest stayed just outside the town's borders. They'd have a nice meal at a local restaurant or tavern, looking like they were merely travelers passing through, while all the while they would gage just how much money the town had, and just who they could hit up for a ransom or a robbery.

It was then that people would realize just how dangerous Kable was. He always remained calm in the face of adversity, giving people the impression that he could be easily negotiated with. However, the moment anyone in the gang was hurt, or someone did anything to upset him, he wouldn't hesitate in maiming or killing the person responsible, without so much as blinking. At that point, all thoughts of negotiating with him, went out the window.

Tonight had started out as no exception. The town had apparently recently struck water and where there was water, there was money. The Gunrit Gang had been intent on seeing to it that at least some of that money landed in their pockets.

Until Kable had heard the telegram that is. When the tall woman had rushed in excitedly, he had first thought that either someone else had decided to hit the town, or that the rest of the gang had been spotted. He had been sorely relieved to find that it was neither. It was merely a telegram for her and the waitress that had been serving him and Hoigt. Hoigt was short and burly, but in the clothes of a farmer, wasn't anymore likely to send up any red flags then Kable was.

It had been fate. Of that Kable was sure. At first he thought he had misunderstood when he heard the name Vash. Surely these two, merely bits of girls themselves, wouldn't know the esteemed outlaw Vash the Stampede, right? But as the letter finished, he realized that he had not been mistaken.

Not only did they know Vash, but they knew where he was as well. And now thanks to them, so did he. It had been all that Kable had needed to know. He slapped Hoigt on the shoulder to let him know that as soon as they were done eating they would be going back to the gang.

They wanted to be quiet about it, as bringing up suspicions wouldn't be good. Kable knew that the next Sand-Streamer wouldn't be here until the day after tomorrow. Which was good, because it would give him and the rest of the Gunrits a good head start and a great chance of getting to Vash before those two did.

With a Sixty Billion Double Dollar bounty on the line, the last thing Kable wanted was for Vash the Stampede to know that someone had gotten wind of his location and was coming to collect.

With that very idea in mind, the Gunrit Gang packed up early and began making their way to the small town of New Maine, on the other side of the desert. The fact that halfway there, they would discovered a pair of unique guns and a beaten and well-worn, red trench coat, would only serve to solidify to them that they were indeed on the right track.


	5. A Simple Day

_**Author's Note:** Okay! I know that bits of this chapter may seem a bit confusing, such as why I would bring twentieth century liturature into play, but I promise, there IS a reason! LOL _

_It took me a while to find just the right quote I was looking for, and although I am sure there are better ones I could have used, I don't have an actual copy of the book (and it has been ages since I last read it even), so I had to do an internet search and that was the best I could find. _

_As such, I have to give a posthumous shout out to Mr. William Golding. Without his macrabe, yet astute,view of the human condition, this story might not be possible! Well, okay, it would be possible, but it wouldn't be nearly as fun! ;-)_

_And now, back to the story. Have fun!_

**_Ormandria_**

* * *

"_I'm just saying man, that it's his own damn fault," Cannon repeated wearily. "If he hadn't been so stupid as to try to fix the plant himself, he wouldn't have gotten blown to kingdom come!"_

"_Cannon," Mac said in a low-tone as he helped Cannon carry the heavy crate of survey equipment off of the ship. It was no use though. Cannon was on a tangent and was not to be diverted from it. Most of the people had been awoken from their deep sleep, and had already been put to work stripping the ship and setting everything up to try to make the desert planet they had landed on inhabitable. _

_The damage to the ship from screaming through the atmosphere unprepared, coupled with the one missing plant and three injured plants had been enough to stop the crew from even thinking that they could take off into space again. Apparently they weren't the only ones having trouble either. _

_Most of the remaining fleet had already been in contact with each other and it was the same story everywhere. They had all received the same remote landing command and those that hadn't been destroyed upon entry, or by crashing into the planet, had received a halt command from the same woman. Rem Sevram. And none of the ships were capable of leaving the planet at this point. They were all stuck, and had to make the best of it. Out of seventy-six ships, only forty-eight had been lucky enough to survive. The only exception to the story was that none of the other ships had ended up with a missing plant._

_They had decided quickly to keep in contact with each other as best as possible. The first order of business had been to awaken everyone that had been in stasis. The second had been to start stripping the ships so that they could start building towns and cities. Since they had plenty of food and shelter on the ships, they didn't see much problem with any of this._

_The crew of the "Hyjeita" was different though. They had Jack's death to contend with and the added fact that the one person who knew the most about the plants had not spoken a single, non-essential word to anyone since his death._

_All Eleesa did was work, eat and sleep. And the eating and sleeping were only sparingly if at all. This worried her crewmates, and Cannon, even though Jack had been his best friend, was no exception. He had taken to ranting and raving about Jack's stupidity every chance he got, given that Eleesa was not around at the time. It was easier for Cannon to act as though he was merely angry at Jack for Eleesa's sake then to admit that the real reason he was angry was that he felt like his friend had abandoned him. _

"_It was Eleesa's job, and he knew it. But he just couldn't sit by. It was that puppy dog crush that did him in you know. The man would have jump out into space without a suit if it would have gotten Eleesa to notice him."_

"_Cannon," Mac tried again, just a little above a whisper this time. He stopped in mid stride about thirty feet from the loading ramp they'd just come down. His eyes were focused behind and to the right of Cannon._

"_He should've known Mac. He should've known that if the Cap'n had asked for Eleesa, there had been a good reason for it." Cannon shock his head as he peered at the crate in their hands. "He should've known…"_

"_Cannon!" Mac finally said aloud, nodding behind him._

_Cannon looked back into the wide and startled eyes of Eleesa. She stood there staring at the both of them. _

"_Oh, shit," Cannon breathed under his breath. "Eleesa, I …." _

_Eleesa put a hand up to stop him in mid-sentence. It was the only time anyone had been able to stop Eric Parks with a mere gesture. She quickly turned around and began striding purposefully up the ramp and into the ship. Only those closest to her could see the panicked hurry in her footsteps._

_Cannon screwed his face up in a look of self-disgust. "Fuck me," he muttered. _

"_What was that all about?" asked a concerned voice. Shawna, who had noticed the commotion from a distance was now standing beside the pilot and medical officer._

"_Me, and my size 12 foot stuck in my size 10 mouth," Cannon replied. _

"_He was on another Jack tirade," Mac commented in response to the look of confusion on Shawna's face. _

"_I'm sorry Shawna, I didn't realize she was standing there," Cannon said._

"_It's alright Parks," the Captain sighed. "It was bound to happen sooner or later. Now we just have to figure out how to deal with it."_

"_Let me go talk to her. After all, I'm the one that screwed up. Let me be the one to fix it."_

_Shawna nodded at Cannon. "Go ahead. Maybe you'll have better luck with her then Mac or I have had so far. You were Jack's best friend, maybe she'll actually listen to you."_

_Mac and Cannon put the huge crate of equipment down and Cannon turned and ran up the ramp. _

"_Here," Shawna said to Mac. "I'll help you finish moving this thing."

* * *

_

_Eleesa stood in the middle of the large room. Wires and pieces of metal were still dangling from the ceiling and jutting out from the walls, but all power to the room had been cut off since she and Jack had originally been found. Luckily enough light filtered in through the door that Eleesa had no trouble seeing._

_The empty glass containment unit stood at the far side of the wall. Glass still lay scattered all over the floor from where it had broken. Eleesa closed her eyes for a moment and took in the utter feelings of loss and emptiness that permeated the room. In a strange sort of way it was comforting to feel that loss. She had spent so much of her time lately avoiding other people because every time she got close she was suddenly filled with dozens of raw emotions filtering through her body. _

_It was bad enough that she was ready to go to Mac and be checked for possible development of schizophrenia or manic-depression, though neither ran in her family. Not to say it wouldn't be possible for her to have developed one of them with everything she had been through lately. What was the proper term that Shawna and Mac had used to cover her odd behavior lately? Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She had heard of that before. It was often mentioned whenever there had been some story on whatever soldiers had come back from whatever war they had been fighting in at the time. _

_If Eleesa remembered correctly, many of them could develop other mental illnesses if the PTSD was severe enough. Some even claimed to develop multiple personality disorders, an illness that until recently, Eleesa had always thought was just a ruse used by people who didn't want to take responsibility for their own actions. Now she had reason to believe it might exist, though it was the one thing she was loathe to talk to anyone else about._

_Still, she knew on some level that she couldn't keep avoiding people forever, locked away in her own little world. Sooner or later she was going to have to face the music, so to speak, and when that time came, it was not going to be easy. _

_Opening her eyes, Eleesa stepped forward and reached her hand out to the broken glass sphere. A sharp pain issued through her index finger as the glass pierced the skin, cutting deep. Pulling her hand back she stared in wonder at the blood welling up from the wound._

_"Eleesa?"_

_Eleesa jumped and turned around to see Cannon standing in the doorway. She had been so wrapped up in her own thoughts and growing depression that she hadn't noticed him come in. _

_"You're hurt," he walked to her and grabbed her hand. "Here, let me fix that for you." Tearing off a small piece of shirt, he gingerly wrapped it around her finger to stem the bleeding._

_He paused only briefly, thinking of what to say next, while Eleesa continued to stand in a daze._

_"I'm … I'm sorry," he finally sputtered out. "I shouldn't have said all those things back there."_

_"It's alright," Eleesa whispered._

_"No, it isn't alright." Cannon looked his crew mate directly in the eyes, grabbing her shoulders as if to shake her, though he merely held her still. "It hasn't been alright since the accident, and neither have you. It's not your fault Eleesa! You have to stop blaming yourself and get past what happened!" _

"_Jack made his own choice and nothing any of us said or did would have change that. No one knew that this was going to happened. No one," he continued on. "It was a stupid mistake!" Tears started to well up in his eyes. _

_Eleesa felt a rush of pain and sorrow push against the wall of emotions that she had spent the last three weeks trying to suppress. It was no good now though. The damn burst and the once strong woman broke into tears of her own. Cannon pulled her close to his chest as her body shudder under the emotional release._

_A bitter, metallic taste entered her mouth, twisting her stomach into knots as she got the sudden impression that Cannon was truly afraid of what was to come. Not because they were stranded on this back-water desert planet with multiple suns and moons, but because of Eleesa. He was afraid of what she might do to herself. He didn't blame her at all for what had happened. Nor was he nearly as angry at Jack as he pretended to be._

_For an instant, everything that Eric Parks had been feeling, everything that had upset him, or worried him, became a part of Eleesa. It was as if the fibers of their very beings had intertwined, making it almost impossible to distinguish herself from her fellow crew member._

_It was there, as strong as any emotions she had ever felt, only it was coming from him, adding to the barrage of other indistinct emotions that had been plaguing her. She didn't know how she knew this, or where it had come from, and that scared her more then anything else in her life ever had before.

* * *

_

Long ago Eleesa had trained herself to awaken before dawn so that she could get an early start to the days work. Today was no exception. Pulling her clothes on, she lightly stepped out into the hallway and began walking toward the stairs. The only change in her routine was a slight look toward the room that Knives was occupying. She could tell that he was awake. Probably had been for most of the night. She didn't let that worry her though. There were going to many more sleepless nights in store for Knives by the time she was through. She'd make sure of that.

Eleesa made her way downstairs where she grabbed her watering can and started the day by tended to the plants inside the house. It took time for her to finish that, but it was always time well spent in her mind. When she was finished, she would then head out to the barn to feed and tend the livestock she kept back there. Though the word livestock was a bit of an overstatement. In actuality her animals consisted of several hens and one milk cow. It wasn't that she needed the animals, since she was always capable of getting supplies from New Maine. It was just that they made a nice background noise of emotions so that she didn't feel completely alone.

She had a tall, barb-wire fence that surrounded the barn so that she could let the animals out, without actually letting them loose. Inside the large barn, she kept most of her gardening tools, as well as her more mundane carpentry and wood-working tools. Eleesa was anything if not capable. She had built her house, and everything around it herself, and she kept it all up herself. If something broke, she fixed it. If it couldn't be fixed, she used the parts to create something new and if that proved impossible, the offending item or items made their way to her junk room. It had been years since that had happened.

After feeding the animals, Eleesa walked over to the large workshop area of the barn. It consisted of an in-ground fire-pit that could be used for metal-work, clay firing, or glass working, among other things. On a table next to it was a bowl full of broken pieces of glass. She debated starting it up so that she could make a new glass front for her picture, but decided against it for the moment. It was a painstaking process, and there was no way she could give it the concentration she needed to when she had Knives to deal with.

Grabbing her gardening tools, Eleesa headed out into the dawning sun to get some yard work done before breakfast.

* * *

Knives sat up in bed as he heard Eleesa pass by his room. It was still dark out, and had he not been paying attention, he might have missed her. He had not been able to sleep at all that night. As desperately as he had tried to clear his mind his thoughts kept returning to the delectable Eleesa and all the wondrous torture that he could inflict on the human race with her at his side. It sent shivers of delight coursing through his entire body.

Normally Knives would want nothing more then kill any person who had the audacity to think that they could take him on. But then again, normally, that person wouldn't be able to do so, while Eleesa had already proven to be more then a match for him so far. Of course, it had only been one day and Knives still had plenty of tricks up his sleeves.

Realizing just how much time he would be wasting if he didn't get some sleep, Knives forced his eyes shut, his mind closed and his body relaxed, when an image of a bright light, once again flashed across his mind, along with thoughts of leather restraints and probing hands. Knives eyes flew open in an instant as he sat straight up, his arms automatically moving into a defensive position.

'_Damn it!'_ he cursed himself mentally. She got in his head once and now he was acting the part of a paranoid loon, just like …. Knives' body tensed under the thought that had begun to percolate at the back of his mind. It had been over one hundred and twenty years since he had last thought of that man and he would be damned if he was going to think about him now. His hands clenched at the bed sheets as the killer forced his rage back under control.

Several minutes of breathing deeply and Knives still felt the uncontrollable urge to go rip someone's heart out with his bare hands. Deciding finally, that this wasn't going to work, he pushed back the covers and left his room. Looking around downstairs, he realized that Eleesa had already headed outdoors, most likely to attend to the small parcel of paradise that she had bred out there.

He toyed briefly with the idea of going outside to "assist" her, but thought better of it. In the mood he was in, he was just as likely to spoil any chance of making decent progress with the woman today. Instead he allowed his feet to lead him back into the study. Walking over to the tall lamp by memory, he quickly located a small book of matches near it and lit it up. He then proceeded to light the lamp on the desk so that he could get some decent light in the room. While it might be bright during the day, it was equally as dark during the night.

Once the room was adequately lit, Knives once again turned his attentions to the books in the room, this time taking care to pay a bit more attention to the material. After short time, his eyes fell on one that looked particular worn and beaten, but had tenderly been pasted back together. Carefully removing it from the shelf, he noted that the cover showed nothing but trees and plants. He scanned the faded name at the top of the book, William Golding.

Curiosity played at his mind. Eleesa obviously cared about her books, but this one seemed to have received a bit more of her attention then some of the others. Sitting at in the plump chair behind the desk, Knives plopped his feet onto the desk and began flipping through the book. Somewhere in the middle he stopped to read a random passage.

"… _Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands. The sow collapsed under them and they were heavy and fulfilled upon her. The butterflies still danced, preoccupied in the center of the clearing…."_

Knives smiled coldly and, turning the book back to the first page, began to read it from the beginning.

* * *

BOOM!

Vash ran as fast as he could.

BOOM!

It was no good though. He knew there was no escape.

BOOM!

It was catching up to him.

BOOM!

He turned down an alley only to find a dead-end.

BOOM!

Vash turned around, cowering against the wall in fear as the giant red ball, the size of a small building bounced slowly toward him.

BOOM!

Vash jerked awake to an incessant knocking at his door.

"Mr. Vash!" came a small voice from the other side as the pounding continued. "Mr. Vash!"

"Coming," Vash called drowsily. He stood up, wiping the sleep from his eyes and grabbing his shirt, which he quickly donned. With that he walked to the door, and pausing to run his fingers through his thick blonde hair, almost as an after thought, he opened the door to find a wide-eyed Kalla on the other side. Behind her were some of the slightly older children from the ball game the day before, each one smiling up expectantly.

Kalla held up a tray laden with food. Smiling she pushed past Vash to put it on the large table inside. "I brought you some breakfast, Mr. Vash."

"Why thank you," Vash smiled. "That was very nice of you."

"Actually, our mom suggested it," said one of the boys at the door, as the troupe of kids filed into the room. "She figured you'd be hungry and she supplies most of the food for guests around here anyway."

"Well tell your mom I said thank you," replied Vash as he sat down to eat. The kids, there were about eight in all, gathered around and all watched him in amazement, unnerving Vash severely.

"This is my brother Thomas," Kalla rolled her eyes as she pointed to the boy that had spoken.

"Pleased to meet you, Thomas," Vash nodded toward the boy in question.

Another of the boys, a bit taller and scruffier looking leaned forward, a look of utter awe on his face. His mouth was wide open as he held his head in his hands, his elbows resting on the table mere inches away from Vash's food.

"Are you _really_ Vash the Stampede?" he asked in wonder. "I mean _the_ Vash the Stampede?"

"Well, um, yes, I am."

"Where's your gun?" Another kid piped up.

"Well it's …."

"How many people have you shot?" asked another one.

"I don't actually …."

"Do you do your own stunts?" broke in a third.

"What?"

"I heard he took out the Nebraska Gang with only one bullet."

"It was six actually."

"My daddy told me he can bring down whole buildings just by looking at them."

"Well I wouldn't say …."

"Oh yeah? Well my dad told me that he once stopped a runaway sand-steamer with his bare hands, from the outside."

"I didn't …."

"I heard he's a bagillion, million years old!"

"I'm not that old …."

"My mom's cousin met him once and said that he was a lothario."

"What's a lothario?"

"I don't know, but I bet it's lethal!"

"It's not …"

"He tames Typhoon's ya know."

"He does?"

"I don't …"

"Well yeah, that's why they call him the human voiding Typhoons."

"That sounds dumb!"

"Does not!

"Does too! Besides it's the Humanoid Typhoon! Isn't it Mister?"

"Well, yes …."

"See?"

"But that would make him a Typhoon!"

"He doesn't look like a Typhoon to me."

"Come to think, he doesn't look like a stampede either."

"So what is he then?"

"I'm a man …"

"Yeah Mister, what are you?"

Heaving a huge sigh, Vash sank despondently into his chair as he looked at all the expectant faces around him, his breakfast forgotten. Something told Vash that it was going to be a long day.

* * *

Light washed over the small house and vibrant land surrounding it. The suns had been up for a good two hours, and a slight rumbling in her mid-section informed Eleesa that it was time to go back in and eat. Content with the job she had done on the garden, Eleesa put her rake away and made her way to the house. She had noted earlier that the lights in the study were on when she had come out of the barn, which meant that Knives was up and about.

She entered the house the same way she had left earlier, stopping by the study to see what Knives was doing. Much to her initial surprise, he was leaned back in the chair, his feet propped up comfortably on the desk reading a well-worn novel she had first read in junior high back on Earth. He appeared to be about half-way through the book.

"Enjoying yourself?" she asked as he chuckled aloud at the scene he was currently reading.

"Quite," he replied, looking up at her in amusement and waving the book in her direction. "This is a very amusing book. A little boring at the start, but it does get better."

"Funny," Eleesa said in a mystified voice. "I've heard a lot of things in my life, but this is the first time I've ever heard anyone describe The Lord of the Flies as amusing."

"And yet, it appears that you can't seem to stop reading it," Knives waved the battered book in the air while Eleesa shrugged.

"A study of the human condition as civility gives way to savagery with a touch of insanity?" Eleesa walked over and took the book from Knives hands and turned it over, raising her eyebrows as she did so. "Actually, I prefer the works of H.P. Lovecraft for that. Still, I can definitely see where this book would appeal to you."

"Are you saying that I'm insane?" Knives questioned.

"I'm saying that your view of the world, as it were, could use some serious re-alignment. If you want to interpret that as insanity, that's your choice." She tossed the book down onto the desk. "Anyway, I'm going to get breakfast going. I've got a long day ahead of me. When you're done with whatever you plan on doing today, I could actually use your help around here. That is, if that won't cause you too much trouble?"

"Yes, ma'am," Knives replied in mocking tones as he stood up, stuffing the book into his back pocket for later reading.

* * *

Vash wasn't quite sure how he managed to finish his breakfast with all those kids around, but he did. That was when the kids really pounced on him. They quickly dragged him from his room to the outside street where they proceeded to explain to him that they would be playing a game of Catch That Outlaw. They assured him though, that he would not be one of the outlaws in this case. That privilege belonged to Thomas and three other boys, who both smiled grandly at the honor. Vash, they had decided would be the heroic, yet emotionally distant stranger, come to town to save it from the dastardly outlaws. Kalla would play the lonely, spinster woman with a crush on the stranger while the others would play townspeople, sheriffs and deputies.

They whole plot was so well thought out, that Vash wasn't sure there was anything left to actually play out. Though he soon realized that the kids brought a lot of improve to the game. It was, of course, fine with him, as it kept him from having to answer another barrage of questions.

Currently, he and Kalla were hiding behind one of the large trees near the hotel's fountain. They had just escaped from the clutches of the "villainous outlaws," as Kalla liked to call them.

"So how did you guys come up with this game?" Vash asked Kalla, now that they had a few moments to rest. They had been at the game for quite a few hours now.

"Oh, Miss Eleesa stays in town sometimes, and when she does she'll tell us stories of some strange place called "The Old West." Apparently it existed in another world, but was a bit similar to this one, only with a lot more villains, cows and gun fights. Best of all was that the good guys always won!"

Vash laughed. "So you like Miss Eleesa's stories then?" he asked.

"Yeah! She's got all sorts of cool stories, but it's the ones about "The Old West" that we like the best." Kalla giggled at her unexpected rhyme.

"Kalla!" A voice sounded from the other side of the fountain.

"Uh-oh. That's my mom," Kalla said despondently. "Here mom!" Kalla got up and stepped out from behind the tree, with Vash behind her.

"Kalla, time for you to go in and eat your lunch." The small woman turned her attention to Vash.

"You must be Mr. Vash," she smiled, reaching out to shake his hand as he drew near. "I hope the kids haven't been running you ragged."

"Oh no," Vash laughed. "They've been great and I love playing games, so it all works out."

"Well, you should still be careful. They are a rowdy bunch," she sighed, watching them all run off to their respective homes for lunch.

"Believe me, I've seen worse."

She turned her attention back to Vash, her smile as bright as ever. "Yes, I suppose you have. Would you like to come to our house for lunch Mr. Vash? We have plenty of food."

"Would I ever?" Vash exclaimed in excitement, following Mrs. St. James back to her house.

* * *

The first thing that Eleesa had Knives do after a hot breakfast of bacon and eggs, was to help her move the table he had broken into the back barn, so she could begin repairs on it. While she did just that, she set Knives to his next task of collecting water from the well so that the plants could be watered. Surprisingly enough, Knives complied with all her instructions without so much as a murmur of resistance.

This was mostly due to his general lack of control in the situation he was in. If he made the conscious choice to be of help and do what Eleesa asked of him, then in his mind he still retained some control over what was happening around him. Not to mention that it put him in a better position to get to her later.

What he hadn't quite expected though, was how back-breaking true labor could be. He had never been interested in the mundane aspect of living and working. His was always a life of survival, manipulation and low-key appearances.

It wasn't often that any heavy work needed to be done, and even then he always had other people to do the real manual labor for him. Eleesa did watch him very closely though, and a few times a day she would pull him aside, insisting on checking his bandages. It surprised Knives, and disappointed him quite a bit, that she seemed to care so much about what happened to him. It made him wonder if Eleesa was more soft then he originally thought. That is, until she finally made the comment that Vash would be very upset if she were to let Knives work himself to death, no matter how much she might enjoy it. Knives couldn't help but feel better after that.

When all was said and done though, while he was in more pain then he would admit, he was actually a bit greatful. After that first day of assisting his "keeper" with the various chores around the acreage he was so tired that he fell asleep that night, almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. There were no images of bright lights and probing hands or unwelcome thoughts of idiot pilots long dead.

What there was, was the cool, comforting blackness of dreamless sleep.

Meanwhile Eleesa lay in her own bed smiling. It had been an interesting day. Or more importantly, an interesting morning. It had been in those early morning hours, as she left the house, that she had felt it. It was small, almost imperceptible, but there nonetheless; a quiver of friction in Knives emotional state. If she had paused to listen, she might even have heard the ever so slight sound of a crack. It was a small crack to be sure, but a definitely a crack. And if there was one thing Eleesa knew, it was that small cracks have a tendency to grow.


	6. Obsessions

_**Author's Note:** Okay, I know this is a short chapter compared to the others, but I just love the way it ends. It just seems to be a natural ending point for this particular part. As always, thanks to all for the continuing patronage! And thanks for the compliment on my user name! It is the name of a character Iplay in one of the many D&D campaigns take part in (yes, created the character and her name myself;-)_

_**Ormandria

* * *

**_

_The group of five people stood on a high dune, looking down at the accomplishments of hundreds of hard-working people. It had taken nearly a year and half, but there it stood, before them. A grand city lay out beautifully, with three plants surrounding it, to help supply it with the power it needed. Off slightly to the north of it was a the start of the city's graveyard, already filled with the bodies of those that didn't survive the crash and a few who died during the last year and a half. _

_Water was still a bit of a problem, but there were experts from among the sleeping passengers that were already working on the problem. _

_Shawna looked over at her friends and smiled. Whatever had happened between Cannon and Eleesa that day had been just what the doctor ordered. It had broken her out of her stupor and gotten her back on par with the others. It was a damn good thing to, as Shawna wasn't sure how they would have managed if she had gone any further over the edge._

"_So what should we name it?" ask Mac. It had already been decided by everyone from the ship, crew and passengers alike, that the Captain should have the honors of naming the city once it was done, and Shawna had decided that the crew should also have a say in the matter._

"_I like Dilintry," replied Pat._

"_That's cause that's your home town on Earth," laughed Mac._

"_How about Cannonstown?" joked Cannon._

"_How about Hyjeita? I'd rather name it after the ship then your ego," countered Shawna with a laugh._

"_July," Eleesa interrupted in a thoughtful tone._

"_July?" Shawna asked. "Really? I have to say it's interesting, but why July?"_

"_Jack's birthday was in July," Cannon responded with a smile. "A tribute, eh?"_

"_Yeah," responded Eleesa._

"_July. I like it. What do the rest of you think?" Shawna looked at the crew._

"_Gotta admit, it has spunk," commented Mac._

"_It's nice," remarked Pat._

"_It's perfect," said Cannon._

"_Then that settles it then," Shawna smiled, waving her hand across the sprawling city down below. "Ladies and Gentleman, I give you the city of July."_

_

* * *

_

Meryl threw her bag down in a fit of anger.

"What do you mean that we're stuck here for another day?" she screamed at the young man in front of her. He coward behind Millie, hoping the second girl would provide him with protection from her volatile friend.

"I told you miss," he stuck out his head just far enough to keep an eye on the smaller of the two insurance agents. "Somehow sands gone and gotten into the control panels and there ain't nothing we can do about it 'cept to clean it out and that'll take another whole day."

Meryl's eyes flashed, sending the man screaming from the room in terror. The other passengers of the Sand-Steamer all stood with their backs flat against the inside of the hull. Each was mentally gauging the amount of time it would take to run past the maniac woman and whether they could do it without getting caught by her.

"You know Meryl," Millie said, trying to calm her friend down. "You shouldn't get so mad at him. It isn't his fault that the steamer broke down."

"I suppose not," agreed Meryl. A heavy collective sigh escaped the rest of the people in the room as they realized that she had finally calmed down and was no longer a threat to them.

"I just want to get to New Maine as soon as possible," she continued.

"Well maybe someone will loan us a jeep and we can go on ahead," Millie suggested.

"Um, excuse me?" asked an older gentleman, who stepped away from the young girl he was traveling with. "I couldn't help but over hear your conversation and well…"

"Yes?" asked Meryl, suppressing the urge to yell at him for ease-dropping.

"Well, I really wouldn't recommend trying to get to New Maine without the sand-steamer."

"Why not?" asked Millie.

"Because you'll never find it. At least not unless you've been there before, or have an innate sense of direction."

"I don't understand," Meryl shook her head in confusion.

"The desert around New Maine shifts all the time," explained the man. "If you don't know where you're going, it's real easy to get lost out there. I once knew a guy that spent four days wondering around looking for the town, but was within a days walk of it the entire time."

"Okay, but if we take a compass," the black-haired woman started.

"Wouldn't work," interrupted the guy, causing another man in the crowd, who had been listening in on the conversations as well, to look up in a panic.

"Compasses don't seem to work once you get within a few days drive to the town. Makes it real easy to lose your way. You're better off just sticking to the sand-steamer. At least the driver knows where he's going."

"I guess," replied Meryl, with a slightly worried look at Millie. "If you say so."

"Oh shit," a low voice exclaimed, well out of earshot of the Bernadelli Insurance agents.

* * *

Kable brought down the binoculars for a brief moment as he scanned the desert horizon. He knew that they were most likely still ahead of the Sand Steamer by a good day or two, but that wouldn't mean squat if he managed to get them lost before they reached their destination. 

"Nothing yet," he told his older brother Kreeker.

"Damn," remarked the Gunrit Gang's leader. "Just how far away is this stinking town?"

"From what I've heard we're probably still three or four days out from it," replied the younger brother.

"So what's the chance of us making there before the sand-steamer?"

"Depends on Lagur. If he succeeded in placing one of his special sand bombs in the control panel, than that should have held them up for at least another day or two while they cleaned everything out."

Kreeker laughed. "Just enough to be an annoyance, but not enough to do any real damage. Gotta love'em."

"Yeah," replied Kable. "And he was kind enough to leave us some in case we need them." He held up one of the small, brown pressure packs that Lagur was always making.

The bombs worked simply enough. If the right type and right amount of pressure was placed on them they would explode into a huge cloud of sand and dust that spread out to a good six feet in all directions. In a control panel of a sand-steamer, it would knock out all systems it touched until they could get the sand cleared out. It had been, in the minds of the entire gang, one of the best inventions that they had ever seen. And it was all Lagur's.

Kreeker grabbed the pack and tossed it in the air, catching it with the expertise of someone use to using the gadgets, and knowledgeable enough not to set them off.

"Anyway, it should be enough for us to get there one day ahead of them," Kable said.

"And Lagur?" his brother asked dubiously.

"He'll arrive with the sand-steamer and the rest of the passengers."

"Good. Now let's get going. I'd like to make as much headway as possible while there's still light." The larger of the two Grant brothers held the sand bomb in one hand and a red overcoat in his other hand. He smiled, clutching the coat tightly in his grasp, as he thought of all the money that they would receive for this one.

"Vash the Stampede, just you wait. We will catch you, you little bastard!"

* * *

Knives awoke to the sound of running water. Looking out, he noticed that the sun was already up. He pushed himself up off the bed and went out into the hall to see where the noise was coming from. He noted that it was coming from the bathroom down the hall, which meant that Eleesa was taking a shower. He smiled in satisfaction to himself and walked toward the closed door, just as the water stopped. 

Not being one to concern himself with what others thought, he casually opened the door and watched as Eleesa stepped out of the shower and proceeded to dry herself off, oblivious to his presence.

The killer found himself admiring the condition that her body was in. Not many humans cared enough about themselves to keep in tip top shape. Just more proof as to the flaws that riddled humanity. Yet Eleesa was different. Her body was well-toned and very well-defined. As he watched her, he noticed only two flaws in an otherwise perfect specimen. The first was a small white scar on the small of her back, that seemed even more prominent then it might normally, given that her skin was still a touch red from the hot water of the shower. The second was on her shoulder. It was longer and thicker then the one on her back, but somehow neither of them appeared ugly. In fact they only proved to accentuate the rest of Eleesa's body.

A normal man would have a very difficult time not falling in love with such a wondrous creature at this point, but Knives was hardly normal. In his view, love was simply a weakness that, if exploited just the right way, could be used to utterly destroy the entire human race. Of course, just because Knives was not one to fall in love didn't mean that he couldn't enjoy the sights a bit.

Even so, Knives was more interested with the fact that Eleesa was quite a bit more muscular then he would have thought. It wasn't really that surprising though, once he thought about it. When he considered all the work they had done the day before, and the fact that she normally did that, and possibly more, by herself, she would need to be strong just to get through the day.

"Are you just going to sit there and stare at me all day, or did you come in here for a reason?" Eleesa finally asked after a few moments, making Knives realize that she had indeed known he was there. She just hadn't cared.

"I just thought I'd pop my head in and see what's on the agenda today," he smiled wickedly. "Yesterday was a bit boring, so I thought there might be something more interesting to do around here."

Eleesa paused in the middle of drying her soft, brown hair, letting it fall loose so that it cascaded down her back and past her waist. She turned to look at her guest, her face contorted in concentration.

"More interesting, huh?" She thought for a moment and then looked back at the mirror and smiled. "Well Knives, you're in luck. I think I have just the thing to keep you from getting bored."

Knives laughed in wry amusement as he continued to pipe air onto the burning coals to keep them lit. Apparently Eleesa's idea of more interesting came down to a simple matter of work that was different then the normal work she did. He had to admit though, that as hot as it was in the barn, this particular job was much better then the things he had done the day before.

He had taken care to note everything that Eleesa did, from letting the animals out of the barn so that they would be out of the way, to arranging all her tools just so, so that they were not only all within easy reach, but straight as pins. He found it almost odd that she would be so meticulous about such a small thing, when she appeared so relaxed in every other aspect of her life. Still, it represented a possible flaw in her that could be exploited later. Knives filed the information away inside his mind.

She had gone on to tie her hear tightly in a bun in the back of her head, so that only a few wisps of hair escaped, so that it wouldn't catch fire. She then took down a pair of worn aprons for her and Knives to wear while they worked.

"Okay, that's enough for the moment," Eleesa said as she looked with satisfaction at the bowl in the middle of the coals.

Knives complied, letting the small bellows go and seating himself on a nearby stool. Eleesa took a long hollow rod and poked one end into the bowl, bringing up a small lump of molten ooze that had once been simple sand and bits of broken glass. Lightly wrapping her lips around the opposite end, she began to slowly breathe through the tube, causing the liquid glass to expand. Knives found himself suddenly interested in the goings on, despite his best efforts to remain detached.

He had heard and even read of glass blowing when he was one the ship, but he had never found much interest in it before. He had never thought though, that it would be like this. He gazed as the woman before him played with the glass. Every breath was deliberate, every motion, every twist and turn, finely tempered with more patience then he had ever seen from another living being.

For the second time that day, Knives stood mesmerized by her presence and actions. The more he was around her, the harder time he had believing that she was merely another human infection. Even the Gung-Ho Guns had never impressed him as much as this woman did. They had merely been useful pawns that he had been planning of disposing of later anyway, but try as he might, he was finding it ever more difficult to think of killing her and tossing the body aside. No, the only recourse left to him now was to ensure that he would have to bring her to his way of thinking and make her his equal. No matter the cost.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Eleesa asked, interrupting his thoughts.

Knives looked up and saw the finished product. It was a long, slender vase with a floret top and a flower base.

"I suppose," Knives replied a little too lazily to be believed. "Not that it matters. What good is beauty, when there is always someone waiting to destroy it?"

"Never underestimate beauty, Knives." Eleesa's voice was low, as she continued to stare lovingly at the fragile glass in her hands. "It sometimes has a way of turning exceedingly deadly, when you least expect it."

A chill of excitement ran the length of Knives spine. Eleesa stood, handing the cooled vase over to him.

"For you," she smiled. "To keep in your room."

"Oh? And why do I need this?" he asked.

"You don't, _now_," she said knowingly. "But you will soon enough. Trust me on this one."

"You know something I don't?" he smirked.

"Oh, I think you will find that I know a lot that you don't." Eleesa smiled as she felt the crack open just a tiny bit more with that, then turned on her heel, leaving Knives behind her, his eyes narrowed in dark thought.

"I'll be inside cooking lunch, when you're ready," she commented as she left the barn.


	7. Plans

_**Author's Note:** Yay! Another Chapter up and away! Which is good, considering how busy I have been lately. Yes, I would love to be able to rate this as a T so more people could read it, but unfortunately there is quite a bit of language spread throughout and some scenes that are already half or fully written that will be coming up in later chapters that are the main reason for the M rating. I am worried that if I tried to rate it T with those scenes, that it would get yanked and that would be heart-breaking for me. As always though, thank you all for the reviews (boy, you guys are very perceptive;-) and I will continue to update as I can!_

_**Ormandria

* * *

**_

_Eleesa opened the door and walked into the house, barely making a sound. She had been here a few days ago so Mac could run some tests. She wasn't actually due back yet, but she refused to let that stop her. Mac had been worried, as had Shawna._

_Looking around to see if there was any sign of Mac's wife or daughter, and seeing none, Eleesa slowly made her way to the back room where his office was. She could feel two people in the house and as she got closer, she knew it was her former Captain and crew mate._

_Concern cut through her like a knife, leaving Eleesa with the sudden urge to throw something and yell. She hated the way people had begun to tip-toe around her. If they weren't afraid for her, they were afraid of her. Or even worse, they pitied her. It was that last one that really ate away at her. Oh, they tried to pretend they weren't, but she knew better. She could feel it all. She had been able to feel it all since the accident so many years ago._

_It had been a relief at first, when she finally realized she wasn't going nuts, but that was before she realized how irritating it was to have other peoples feelings swimming around inside of her. True, for the first several years it hadn't been too bad. Her biggest problem at the time had been dealing with large crowds of people. Every time she was near more then a handful she would get so overwhelmed by the shear force of the emotions present that she would get sick, or worse, lose the ability to tell where she ended and everyone else began. She managed to keep suspicions away though by claiming that she had developed claustrophobia since the accident._

_Still, she had been willing to deal with the negative aspects because her newfound empathy did have its advantages as well. It had given her a special insight into others. It definitely made it easier to tell when someone was lying to her, or trying to get away with something. Her friends had also started coming to her for advice. Then people she hardly knew began coming to her for advice as well. That was when it had started getting annoying._

_She grew ever more irritated that people in general could be so idiotic as to not see what was right in front of their eyes. Why should she be the one that had to clean up everyone else's mess because they couldn't get their lives straightened out? It had been enough to start her snapping at people when her moods grew dark. A situation that had grown increasingly frequent as of late, because of her particular problem. _

_It had taken quite a few years, but she had finally begun to learn how to close herself off so she wasn't so over-whelmed by people in general. Unfortunately it was too little, too late, as it did nothing to cure the growing distain and jealousy she found herself feeling for the people around her, who despite everything they complained about, were actually leading what amounted to normal lives._

_It seemed to Eleesa that everyone on the ship had settled down and accepted their fate. They had gone on to start families, create businesses, and set up a thriving commerce. Even Mac, a man that had always claimed to be too busy for such frivolities, had fallen in love and gotten married. He had a nine-year-old daughter now too. Something he had always said he would never do._

_Voices drifted out into the hall as Eleesa neared the door to Mac's office. Sure enough the voices confirmed her earlier thoughts. _

"_I don't understand Mac. You're saying that she's perfectly healthy?"_

"_More than healthy, Shawna. Fifteen years and she hasn't aged a day! The rest of us are getting wrinkles, going grey or just looking worn in general, and she still looks like she stepped out of a Miss USA contest."_

_As soon as Eleesa heard them, she knew they were talking about her. Creeping closer to the door to listen she leaned in to listen._

"_Yeah Mac, I know that already. And God knows I wish I looked as young as she did, but what I **don't** know is **why** she isn't aging. Mac, what the hell is going on?"_

_Eleesa heard a chair slide out from under a desk as Mac sat down._

"_She's not human," he sighed. Eleesa stiffened._

"_What do you mean she's not human?" Shawna demanded. "If she's not human, then what the hell is she?"_

"_I don't know. I ran tests to see if her lack of aging is possibly linked to some sort of genetic disorder. What I found was that her genetics have changed."_

"_I don't understand."_

_Rattling came from the room as though someone was shifting things around on the desk._

"_Okay," continued Mac after a few moments. "Suppose this is a normal person's DNA, or their genetics, as it were. Now if I shift this here and that there it's changed. But if you were looking at it for the first time you might not notice. So now you need to imagine that while the balls changed position, the shadows remained."_

"_So that you can see where the balls originally were?" Shawna asked. _

"_Yes," explained Mac. "That's Eleesa's DNA. It echoed itself and then changed."_

_Eleesa felt a numbing chill bite into the pit of her stomach as she listened to the conversation._

"_Eleesa may have been human once, but whatever she is now, it most definitely isn't human anymore."_

"_So what do we do about it?"_

_Eleesa couldn't stand it anymore. The discussion was making her sick to her stomach. They were talking about her as though she was a lab experiment. All the old stories of alien dissection ran through her brain in an instant and instinct took over. She slammed the door open before Mac could answer Shawna's last question, startling both of the room's occupants._

"_How about you tell her?" Eleesa asked bitterly. "Or are people now creating secret society's just so they can talk about me behind my back?" The comment stung Mac a little more harshly then Eleesa had meant to, making her regret her outburst almost immediately._

"_I'm sorry," she said, finding it hard to keep the sarcasm from her voice. "I came to see if you had the results yet. I didn't expect to find you two discussing them with each other instead of with me."_

"_Well," remarked Mac as he pulled a chair out from next to the wall for Eleesa to sit in. Eleesa ignored it. She could still feel the worry coming off him like sweat, but was in no mood to cater to it. "I was going to wait to talk to you tomorrow. As for Shawna being here, well hell Eleesa…. With the way you've been acting lately, I thought it might be a good idea to have Shawna there in case …"_

"_In case I lose it?" she finished for him._

"_Yes," Shawna stated in a flat tone. "You haven't exactly been thinking clearly lately. People have been worried."_

"_People are afraid, Shawna. I scare the living hell out of them. Look at me. I mean really look at me. I'm faster and stronger then most. I don't like being in large crowds. I know more about most people around here then they know about themselves. I don't age, and I now I can't even control my own damn emotions half the time, let alone anyone else's!"_

_Shawna and Mac looked perplexed as they watched their friend continue to rant. _

"_And now," Eleesa continued. "As if all that isn't bad enough, I find out I'm a freaking alien! Pardon me if I seem a bit touchy right now."_

"_I didn't say you were an alien," Mac corrected._

"_No. You just said I wasn't human."_

"_Eleesa, for Christ's sake, will you sit down and listen?" Shawna exclaimed in her Captain's voice. _

_Eleesa finally relented and sat, her anger only partially spent from her tirade. Shawna heaved a long sigh and looked at Mac as though Eleesa hadn't even interrupted and had, in fact, been there the whole time._

"_Now, as I was saying," she eyed Eleesa warily. "What do we do about this?"_

"_Well first, I need to know how this happened," Mac waved his hand over his make-shift DNA model. It gave Eleesa the willies just looking at it, but she couldn't take her eyes off of it. She had seen a similar model before. It had been a very long time ago, but it still held as clear in her mind now as it had then. Her eidetic memory made sure of that. She swallowed hard to fight the rising panic._

"_Eleesa?" Shawna asked, not realizing that Eleesa recognized the model. "It'll be okay. We'll get this sorted out and …"_

"_It's the plants," Eleesa said in a hushed voice._

_Mac looked from Eleesa to the model and back again. Memories welled up from the long forgotten past. "Okay, Eleesa," he said as understanding dawned on him. "I think it's time you told us what exactly happened in that room." _

_Eleesa could only nod numbly as she began to pour out the details she had always avoided surrounding what had happened right before she blacked out in the room. _

_Mac and Shawna listened for what seemed like. They had always known that something had occurred in there that Eleesa didn't wish to talk about, but they had never, even in their wildest dreams, expected this. It was like some kind of bad horror movie. Had it not been for the tests that Mac had run, they wouldn't have believed it._

_Shawna stared at her friend in disbelief._

"_Why didn't you tell us any of this before?" she asked. "We could have helped you."_

"_Help?" Eleesa laughed incredulously. "Look at me Shawna! People are afraid of me! And with good reason too. I've become something out their worst nightmares! Frankenstein and his monster all rolled up into one glorious package!" She swept her hand across the table, scattering the balls to the floor, as her body shook in rage._

"_I know how you must feel Eli," Mac sighed. It was a desperate hope, using her nickname from long-ago, but he thought that maybe it was just the ticket to get through to her. "No one is afraid of you."_

"_You don't know anything," she seethed. "I can feel it Mac. I can feel it all! Every emotion, every worry, every fear." Eleesa griped the desk below her, once again fighting the tide of nausea that threatened every time she was over-whelmed with emotions. Her voice lowered as she looked at the other two. _

"_I've felt everything that everyone else has, since the crash," she continued bitterly. "And they're afraid. And I hate them for that. I hate them all…."

* * *

_

"Shit! Shit! Shit!"

Lagur continued muttering the explicative under his breath as he made his way down the corridor of the sand-steamer. They hadn't even fully started their "project" yet, and already it looked like it was going to hell in a hand-bag.

He rounded a corner, narrowly avoiding one of the many workers that would surely have his hide if they found him. It wouldn't take long for the lug-nuts to figure out that he might have had something to do with that little sand explosion in the control room.

He looked around for a moment at the niche he found himself in and smiled. This would at least give him some privacy to think and possibly come up with a plan. Damn it though! He wasn't any good with plans. That was Kable's specialty.

Sitting down, Lagur took a few deep breathes to calm down. He had too. Being panicked was likely to do more harm then good in a situation like this. The black-haired man began to rub his hands together in thought. He did his best thinking when his hands were busy. Though admittedly, it was usually when they were busy creating something, not when he merely rubbed them together as though he were cold. Still, the important thing was to keep them moving.

He went over the bare facts that he knew, at this moment, to be true. The first was that Kreeker and the others were already on their way to New Maine. The second was that people going to New Maine without assistance, even those with compasses, tended to get hopelessly lost. The third was that he, Lagur, had already played his trump card in the sand-bomb, so another one to slow down the steamer was highly unlikely to work.

Chances were good that the driver and his crew would be on extra-alert because of that already.

So how was he going to stop this big honking thing to give the others time to get to New Maine. The answer, simply put, was that he couldn't. Not without calling major attention to himself and that was definitely not something he wanted to do. With that figured out, he'd have to start looking at other options. He needed something to ensure that Vash the Stampede stayed in New Maine until the rest of the Gunrits arrived.

Lagur's thoughts fell to the two woman in the passenger hold and a smile began creeping across his face. Lagur might not be a ladies man per say, but he didn't exactly hurt a girl's eye to look at either. The taller girl, with the long brown hair, seemed nice enough, though her friend left a lot to be desired.

It didn't surprise him though. He got the impression that she was Vash's girl. And if you're going to be the girl of the great Vash the Stampede, destroyer of cities, and the man who managed, somehow, to put a hole in the Fifth Moon, then you damn-well better be tough yourself.

Most importantly though, the woman listened to her taller friend, who appeared to be of the simpler mind. It would make for an easy opportunity to manipulate them. If he could get them to stay in New Maine, chances might be good for keeping Vash in town as well.

Lagur got up and, after checking the corridors, made his way back to the passenger hold, with no one the wiser as to where he had been or what he had been doing. He was about to approach the girls, but then thought better of it. His best bet would be to wait until the small, ticking time-bomb was asleep. Then he could talk to the other one alone.

He leaned back against the far wall, studying the woman known as Meryl Strife. He shuddered as he thought back to her outburst earlier. For a moment he wasn't sure which scared him more, facing the great Vash the Stampede, or facing her. He decided almost immediately that it was the latter. After all, no matter how bad Vash turned out to be, at least he was still a guy. And guys, Lagur understood.

* * *

Knives walked into the plant room. He had taken the vase upstairs to his room, placing it on the table that Eleesa had fixed the day before. Now he simply looked at the plants that filled the room, these plants that were a shadow of Vash and him. They were cousins to them and the siblings that still lived in fragile glass containers.

They appeared very well taken care of. It left him slightly curious as to how Eleesa would react if she knew that he and Vash were plants. Of course knowing her, which he was beginning to know her better and better with each passing moment, she probably already knew. She had been inside of him, after all.

He gently ran his finger along the fuzzy leaf of one particular vibrant plant. He could feel the life pulse through it, and its joy at that life. Yes, these plants did seem very happy, he had to admit.

He turned and went into the kitchen, sitting down at the table for lunch.

"You're plants like you," he said matter-of-factly.

"They do?" Eleesa queried. "And how would you know that?"

"Because they told me," he shrugged.

"Well that's good to know," she returned. "I'm glad they like me. I'm rather fond of them myself."

"I can see that. So tell me, why do you waste your talents here, in the middle of this wasteland, when you could be out growing beautiful happy plants all over the planet?"

"I like it here," Eleesa remarked, grabbing the plates for the table. "It's quiet."

"Yes, but don't you get lonely?" he mocked. Eleesa merely flashed one of her easy-going smiles, with a tilt of the head.

"Oh Knives, are you worried about me and my little lonely heart?" she mused.

He snorted. "No. It's simply been my experience that people who shut themselves off from the rest of the world tend to do so because the big, bad world scares them. So I find it funny that you should do the same, since it's fairly obvious that nothing scares you."

"I told you, I like the quiet," she sighed. Knives smiled in satisfaction. She was taking the bait.

"What can I say? I'm a loner by choice," she continued. "I don't much like being around large groups of people for my own reasons."

"Now why would a nice girl like you hate being around people?" he pushed.

"They have a tendency to irritate me at times," she replied, her eyebrow arched in a way that relayed this same feeling to Knives and his questioning at the current moment. Knives didn't let that deter him though and kept on pushing. It was the first time he had managed to wrangle the conversation toward Eleesa and he wasn't about to stop now.

"Yes," he smirked knowingly. "They do have that as one of their less noble aspects. I find though that if I simply kill them, I get rid of the irritation. You should try it sometime."

"I'm not like you Knives." Eleesa was about to set down the last of the cutlery when Knives grabbed her hand unexpectedly.

"Oh I think you are more like me then you want to admit," he sneered.

"Am I?" Eleesa grabbed a knife that lay on the table next to her and quickly ran it over Knives arm and her own in one swift motion. Knives sat stunned for an instant, not even fully aware of what she had just done until he saw the blood well up from both their wounds. He looked up at Eleesa, who was studying the wounds intently. Her eyes widened in wonder, her mouth opened in a gasp of shock, and when she finally spoke, her voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Wow," she said. "You're right. I mean, look. You're blood is red and … and … so is mine…. Boy, this is amazing. We really are more alike then I ever realized." She looked up at Knives in artificial concern. "Why, where _ever_ will the similarities end?" Shaking her head, Eleesa pulled her hand from Knives and went to the sink to wash the blood off her arm and the knife. She also tossed a towel to Knives so that he could do the same.

Knives began laughing to himself. He had managed to get to her and the victory, and although it was a slight one, it was indeed a sweet treat. So engrossed was he, in his own triumph, he failed to noticed the small, shrewd smile that played on Eleesa's lips the rest of the day.

* * *

Night had fallen and the sand-steamer had started moving again. Meryl felt relief flood her bones. It was hard to believe that she could get so worried about a man that, a few years ago, she had considered nothing more then a veritable pain in her side. Her mind drifted to all that they had been through in the last four years. When she had first found Vash, she thought him a fool and an imbecile. True, he still acted like one at times, but somehow it had gone from being annoying to endearing.

Now she couldn't bring herself to think of never seeing him again. These past few months had been pure torture. She and Millie had no way of knowing what Knives might do to Vash. He had killed so many people and had taken so much from all of them already. It was Knives that had sent Legato after the girls, forcing Vash to kill him in order to save them. A trick that backfired for Knives, as all it did was reinforce Vash's need to save his brother.

Meryl shivered at the memories and the thought of Knives. What if Vash succeeded in getting through to Knives? Did that mean that Knives would be traveling with them from now on? And if so, could she and Millie handle it? She had watched as Millie grieved over Wolfwood's death. It had torn her apart for a very long time. The work in town had been a boon to lifting Millie's spirits. Still, the idea of either of them having to be near the man that caused all the destruction in the first place set her stomach to churning. Of course, if anyone other then Vash could forgive Knives of his crimes it would be Millie. The girl truly had a heart of gold in that regard.

It might end up being a moot point though. In order to answer those questions, Knives would have to be on the road to "recovery" as it were, and from what Meryl had seen from him, she wasn't sure that it was likely. Although she had made a promise to Vash to believe in him. She couldn't just turn her back now, could she? She shook her head in confusion. She cared about Vash a lot and had seen him do many amazing things. She couldn't exactly start questioning him now, could she? No, she couldn't.

"You should get some sleep Meryl. You can't go visit Mr. Vash all tired and worn out," Millie remarked with normal enthusiasm. Meryl laughed.

"I suppose not. All right, I'll get some sleep."

The older of the two girls settled down a bit more, getting into a more comfortable position.

* * *

Knives sat in bed, studying the cut on his arm. It had been deep enough to draw blood, but not deep enough to cause any lasting damage. Eleesa had gotten the pressure just right, even in her annoyance. Yes, she was the perfect person to help him build Eden. With her by his side he wouldn't even need Vash anymore.

Perhaps after he turned her, he should have her kill Vash. There was no doubt in his mind that she was capable of doing so. Best yet, was that Vash would never even see it coming. Knives smiled as he sunk down and closed his eyes so that sleep could take him.

Once asleep, his dreams filled with the wonderful cries and sweetly, sickening blood of the human race, dying in agony.

* * *

Lagur moved over near the insurance girls, once he knew that the short one was asleep. When he saw the other look up, he merely smiled at her and nodded. She returned the smile, her bright blue eyes sparkling in the dark.

"Want a sandwich?" he asked, holding one up to her.

"Oh, thank you!" she grabbed the sandwich and began to munch down on it. "I am awfully hungry."

"You looked it," Lagur smiled. "My name's Mitch, by the way. Mitch Johanssen."

"I'm Millie. Millie Thompson," she replied. She held out her hand, which he took and shook. He almost immediately regretted it. If he thought that the small girl had been tough in attitude, it had nothing on this girl's physical strength. Just when he was positive that she was about to break his hand, she let go.

"That's … quite a grip … you have there," Lagur gasped.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Millie laughed. "Meryl always says I need to watch it. I just don't know my own strength."

"I gathered that," he replied. Suddenly Lagur felt that whatever Kreeker and Kable were planning on giving him for his cut of the reward on Vash the Stampede, it wasn't going to be nearly enough.


	8. Ruthless

"_Are you sure you want to do this?" Cannon asked. Eleesa merely nodded. She looked at her friend, his graying hair pulled back into a tight pony-tail. His eyes were worn and tired, but still held the crinkle and sparkle of years of laughter. _

"_You don't have to leave, you know," remarked Shawna. Eleesa looked around the city that had become like a prison to her in the last several years. People avoided the trio, walking wide circles around them, and whispering._

"_Yes, I do. You saw me Shawna. The only thing that stopped me from putting Gall through that wall today was you. I can't handle it anymore. Having people inside my head was bad enough when I actually cared about all of them, but now…." Eleesa let the sentence drift off. _

_Cannon put his hand on her shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze. He didn't want her to go, but at the same time he knew that she needed to. Just like the others knew as well. Mac and Shawna had thought that once things got figured out, it would make everything better, but it hadn't. If anything, it had made matters worse._

"_Where will you go?" he asked._

"_Anywhere. Nowhere. I don't know," she answered. "I think I'll just travel for a while. It's time that someone actually started doing exactly what we came to this planet to do."_

_Cannon and Shawna laughed. _

"_So you're going to become Johnny Appleseed now, huh?"_

"_No," Eleesa shook her head with a wry smile. "I was thinking more along the lines of 'Eli the Plant Girl!'"_

_Without warning, Cannon grabbed Eleesa, crushing her into him and burying his face in her hair. Eleesa stiffened, fighting back the urge to scream and push him away. Cannon either didn't notice, or chose to ignore it. Eleesa couldn't say which, but after a few more seconds he finally released her. She could see tears glistening in the back of his eyes._

"_You play it safe out there. It's a dangerous place and we still haven't had a chance to fully explore every aspect of it yet," he remarked. Eleesa raised an eyebrow at him in amusement._

"_We're living on a planet that somebody named after an old western TV show and you think I need warned about the dangers? All I can say is that I shall forever find comfort in knowing that I'm not the only crazy person on this damnable sand-pit."_

_Cannon and Shawna chuckled in response._

"_Mac will be upset if you leave without saying goodbye, you know," Shawna mentioned casually, as she tried to keep the mood light._

"_I know," Eleesa smiled. "I'm planning on stopping by to see him before I head over to visit Jack and Pat."_

"_You're gonna come back and visit right?" Cannon asked._

"_Of course I will," Eleesa nodded. "I have to. I owe him that much." Her eyes drifted past the city limits to the graveyard that stood on the sand-dune beyond. Two of her friends now rested in that cemetery, Pat having died of cancer several years before. Though it was Jack's grave that was of interest to her. She had made it a point to visit the grave every six months, making this the first time she had ever changed that routine._

"_Anyway, I better get going." Eleesa gave her friends one last hug goodbye and turned to leave. The others stood to watch her go. _

_She was a full block away when Cannon turned and kicked the wall in frustration. _

"_Dammit!" he cried. "It's like a bad joke, and I just keep waiting for the punchline."_

"_Not a bad joke," Shawna replied, without taking her eyes off of Eleesa's retreating form. "It's like she said. It's like a nightmare. I just hope that she wakes up from it before it's too late…."

* * *

_

"So are you heading to New Maine as well, or going on to Brandville?" Lagur asked Millie casually.

"New Maine," Millie smiled innocently. "We have a friend there that were going to go see. What about you?"

"I'm going to see my brother-in-law and my niece," Lagur replied, adding a touch of sadness to his voice. "My sister died a few years back, after a long and painful illness, and I haven't seen any of them since then. So I thought it was time to push past the pain and give them a visit." He dabbed at his eyes for dramatic effect.

Lagur was very good at story-telling and had even once thought of becoming a performer for a traveling show. It was a dream quickly cut in two when he met the Grant brothers and found his true calling in robbery. He watched to see if he was still as good as he thought he was and sure enough Millie's mouth curled up in a small frown as tears well-up in her eyes.

"Oh, that's so sad!" she cried. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through something so tragic! When Grandma Thompson died, I was a wreck. None of my brothers or sisters could console me." She wrapped her arms around him in a comforting bear-hug, nearly crushing his body.

"You can cry on my shoulder if you need to," she added.

"Thanks," Lagur gasped as she let him go. He panted for a moment. "I think I'm feeling better now."

"Still, it must be hard for you," Millie said. "I know that if I ever lost any of my brothers or sisters, I would cry for a very long time."

"Well, I did love my sister, but I just keep reminding myself that she's in a better place now."

"That's good," Millie commented.

"So what about this friend of yours?" Lagur pried. "He must be very important for your friend there to want to go see her that desperately." Lagur emphasized the word her, in the hopes that Millie would be more open to trusting him. It was a shot in the dark, but it usually worked. People generally caught on fast if you suddenly knew things about things that you weren't suppose to know, even if it was something small, like the gender of a friend. Since Millie had not mentioned that the friend they were going to see was a man, Lagur decided it was in his best interest to "assume" that it was a girl. The bet paid off as Millie laughed.

"Oh yes, but our friend is a he. His name is Vash and he is a very important person to Meryl." Millie dropped her smile as she looked at her friend and co-worker, asleep next to her. "She's missed him very badly these past few months and has been extremely worried."

"Worried? Why would she have to be worried about him?"

"Well, you see, he's been having trouble with his family lately and … oh, you don't want to hear this. It's really nothing, just Meryl being Meryl. I'm sure she'll be fine as soon as she sees him."

Lagur looked between the two girls and felt the first pang of guilt he had felt in a very long time. Millie really was a very sweet girl and he really didn't want to do anything to hurt her, but he had to keep reminding himself that this was a job after all. Besides, after they were done, he stood to get a good portion of that Sixty Million Double Dollar reward, and that made it worth it.

The pair continued to talk and eat as the night wore on. Millie offered her new friend a pudding in return for the sandwich, while she had one herself. It was several hours before they both fell into an exhausted, yet satisfied sleep, both of them smiling, though for completely different reasons.

* * *

Vash the Stampede was pacing back and forth in his room. He was worried. They were out there, he knew, but he wasn't quite sure how to handle it.

He had never come across a group so ruthless before. Everywhere he went, they were there. Every time he turned around, another one showed up. For the past four days he had not gotten a single moment alone. They were monsters of the most horrific kind, and he knew that the moment he stepped from the room, he would, once again, be in their clutches.

He paused in his steps to look out the window. Sure enough, they were still there. Word had gotten around rather quickly and now he was stuck. One of the younger ones saw him staring out of the window and yelled for him to come out.

Closing the curtain hurriedly, he sighed. There was no use for it. He would have to go out there and face them. No matter how tired or hungry he was, he had no other choice. Taking a deep breath, Vash the Stampede opened the door prepared to face his demise.

Much to his surprise, Kalla stood there, holding up a brown paper bag.

"I brought you some donuts to eat before we start playing again," she smiled.

Vash opened the bag to look in and immediately fell to his knees, crying. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" he exclaimed, hugging her tightly. "You're a life-safer!"

From that point on, Kallawas going to makesure that she would bring donuts for him every morning. Mainly because his reaction always made her laugh, and it was good to start the day off with a laugh.

* * *

"Where is it Kable? We've been going around in circles for the last day and a half and I am not happy about it." Kreeker pulled a long drag off his cigarette and glared at his younger brother.

"I don't know. This fucking thing is useless!" Kable threw the compass down into the sand.

"The problem is that the terrain keeps changing on us boss. That ain't Kable's fault," Hoigt remarked. Kreeker turned around and grabbed Hoigt by the scruff of the neck hauling him up into the air in a fit of anger.

"_Did I say it was his fault?"_ Kreeker asked in a low, snarling voice.

"No…." Hoigt winced. Kable sighed and put his hand on his brother's hands.

"Put him down, Kreek. You're not made at him anymore then you are at me."

For a moment Kable wasn't sure that his brother was going to let the man down, but he finally half dropped, half threw the small, pudgy man to the ground.

"_Damnit!"_ he exclaimed. "I want that reward Kable. No matter what."

"And we'll get it Kreek," Kable replied. He noted that while Hoigt pushed himself away, Joist backed slightly away as well. Envers though paid no attention. Kable had set him to scanning the horizon with the binoculars, and he was smart enough not to stop when the ruckus had started.

It was rare for Kreeker to start taking his anger out on members of the gang, but on the few occasions that he did, it was only Kable that kept him calmed down. All the others could do was to stay out of the line of fire.

"I see something!" Envers called out.

"What?" Kable rushed over to his friends side.

"Looks like a water plant." Envers handed the binoculars over to Kable for confirmation.

"Too right it is," Kable smiled. "Which means that we aren't so far out after all."

"Good," sneered Kreeker. "Cause I'm just itching to get my hands on that sweet reward money."

* * *

Eleesa wiped her forehead with the back of her hand as she took a momentary break from tending the garden. Looking over she saw Knives casually watering the plants from his seat. He held the watering can with one hand, while the other kept a firm grip on the book he was reading. He was extremely content and happy at the moment. Which could only mean one thing, he had gotten to one of the more vicious parts of the book.

As if on cue, he chuckled quietly at the book. While Eleesa would not have initially recommended the book for Knives reading enjoyment, she did have to admit to herself that it helped her to gain a little more insight into the causes behind his emotional and mental depravities. It showed her that she was definitely going to have to take more drastic measures.

There weren't many people in the world could stand to get cut and merely laugh it off as amusement, and somehow, the fact that he had not immediately tried to go for her throat had made her feel both secure and a little worried. Secure in that he was more concerned with turning her to his way of thinking rather then with killing her, but worried in that he did shrug it off so easily. It meant that she wasn't quite cutting into him deep enough yet.

Of course, it did help relax him a touch in that he finally felt as though he had made progress with getting at her, and to Eleesa that was fine. Anything to help bring down his defenses. One of Knives biggest problems was his over-sized ego. If he thought he was getting at her, chances are he wouldn't notice her sneak in and essentially strike the more deadly move until it was almost too late.

She had made the initial crack when he started thinking about Steve again, and that was good, but forcing that crack open more might prove to be a bit more challenging, really. Every chance she got, Eleesa tried to push a small emotional pin into Knives defenses, widening the crack just slightly more, yet it wasn't enough. She needed more.

She viewed it as though she were preparing to breakdown an entire mountain. You couldn't just put dynamite in one spot and blow it up. No, you had to put the dynamite in several spots along a fissure or crack and detonate them all at once. This was what she was planning on doing with Knives.

She knew he was thinking more and more about his time on the ship and the man that had started him on his fall into insanity. That was more then agreeable to her as she knew Knives felt it a weakness on his part, and as with any sign of weakness, the more he tried to push it back, the bigger it became.

Oh, he still tried to maintain outward appearances of having a cool-head and not being upset or disturbed by any of this, but she knew better. That was one of the blessings of being an empath. Nothing gets by you, at least not where emotions are involved.

Deciding that she was done for the moment, Eleesa wiped her hands on her knees and pushed herself up before she walked over to him. It was time to be ruthless.

* * *

Knives sat in the chair he had brought out from the kitchen and flipped through the book while watering the vegetation around him. He needed something to take his mind off of his growing irritation with himself. He had found himself thinking of that man again and it was almost enough to drive him insane.

He would much rather immerse himself into the wonderful world of reading (one of the few things that humans might have actually done right), or dealing with Eleesa. He smiled slightly at the memory of blood dripping from their arms in unison. Yes, that was how life should be. Two bodies, two souls in total sync with each other. So much so that when one bleeds, so does the other. When falls, so does the other. When one dies ….

'_Well, then one dies.'_ He laughed quietly at the thought. It had been a good day yesterday, considering that he couldn't read her or her damnable, cool, body language. He had always been able to play on people's fears and reactions before. It had been simple enough for him to learn to read people's body language, especially since they had the unfortunate habit of 'wearing their hearts on their sleeves' so to speak. With Eleesa though, it was almost as if she had no fears or concerns of what might happen.

He supposed that he could try getting into her head in the same way that he had done with Rowen and Mary on the Seed Ship, but his instincts told him that that wouldn't work with Eleesa.

Then she had cut him, along with herself. She had done it without thought, without worry and most of all, without regret. It had given him a new sense of purpose. He could get to her and he would.

Knives smiled and refocused his attention on the book in front of him. Where had he left off again? Oh yes, Simon and the beast. Knives chuckled. He liked this beast, this Lord of the Flies as it were. It reminded him of himself.

"Still reading that, huh?" Eleesa asked as she walked up to Knives.

"What can I say, it's a good book," he smirked.

"Or maybe your just looking for pointers on the whole "destroy the world" campaign your on?"

"Perhaps. Or maybe I just identify with the characters. There's something about the sport of the hunt and the fresh kill that makes my heart cry out in pure, unadulterated joy. And with this book, I can enjoy it two-fold. Why, reading about it in such fine detail is almost as good as partaking in it."

"Yes, all that blood and lack of mercy, I suppose for you it is." Eleesa shook her head. "You know, I have to say, the words sick and twisted, just somehow don't seem to even begin to cover what you are."

"Well, I am the Beast after all," Knives waved the battered book around, smiling enigmatically.

"No, you're not." Eleesa looked down at him, her eyes filled with something close to pity. "You're Simon. You may see the beast and talk to it. Heck you may even let it control you and your life, but when all is said and done; when you finally achieve your goal and you find yourself standing on the barren wasteland of this planet, all alone, Vash gone, humanity gone, even your beloved plants _gone_, you will find that you are nothing more then a husked out corpse of a boy that was thrown off a cliff years ago by a man who never even deserved to have that kind of power over you."

"More's the pity actually," she continued sadly. "Because I think that I could have been friends with that boy."

"Well thankfully, as you so put it, that boy is dead." Knives waved her comment off, though it was easy to tell that she had upset him a touch.

"Oh I didn't say he's dead now. I said he will be. Do you honestly think that there will be anyone or anything left on this planet that will care for or about you, once you kill off all the humans? Do honestly think that Vash will stand by your side? Or any of the other plants? Those that don't die in your mad scheme will hate you."

Knives hands gripped the side of his chair, threatening to break it as he tried to retain his cool while Eleesa continued with her barrage in an overly calm and detached voice.

"You'll be nothing. More then you are nothing now."

"I'm me."

"You're an assassin sent by the fears of the little boy hiding inside of you, to destroy the big, bad world that he's afraid to face."

The punch stopped an inch away from Eleesa's face, though she didn't even so much as flinch. The veins in Knives neck stood out and the chair he had been sitting in had landed several feet behind him. His face was contorted with anger, but even so, Eleesa took note of the small tear that had begun to creep from his eye.

He began to laugh bitterly at the realization that she had managed to get to him so thoroughly. Hatred mixed with fear welled up inside of him. Hatred of her, hatred of himself and hatred of the world in general. For the first time since waking, Millions Knives realized beyond a shadow of a doubt, that whatever was going on here, in this desert oasis, he was not the one pulling the final strings.

Eleesa looked at him, her eyes filled with an odd sadness he had never seen before. Without another word, she turned and walked back into the house.

* * *

"Hey Vash, catch!" screamed one of the kids that Vash was playing with, as a big, red ball bounded toward him. Vash missed though, as a sudden cold feeling surged through his body, making his stomach drop out from under him.

"Mr. Vash?" another kid started tugging on his sleeve. "Are you okay?"

He remained crouched, arms outstretched and ready to catch the ball, unable to move. He couldn't breath. His very soul seemed drenched in unknown fear. After a moment the initial feeling passed, leaving behind only a quesy, uneasiness to his stomach.

"I… I'm sorry," he laughed nervously, the spell broken. "But I have to go back to the hotel for a few minutes. There'd something I need to take care off."

"Oh that," smiled the toe-headed child next to him. "My mom says that can happen when you eat too many sweets." To emphasis the matter, the young boy looked over at the boxes of donuts behind Vash.

Vash laughed again and ruffled the boy's hair. "I'll try to remember that," he said before dashing off to the hotel.

The truth was though that there was only one thought on his mind right now and that thought was Knives.

* * *

"You're good," Knives commented as he walked into the sitting room, where Eleesa was drinking a cup of coffee. "You knew just how to strike and you did it without apprehension. You truly are amazing."

"What can I say?" Eleesa replied without any real emotion in her voice. "I like to put my all into everything I do."

"So what are you anyway?" Knives asked. "You're not human, that much I know. Humans can't do the things you can do. Even Legato never had the skill to control me or Vash. No, humans don't even begin to compare to you."

He sat down in the other chair and continued.

"Yet you're not a plant either. At least you don't give off the feelings of being a plant. So what is it that you are?"

"Well, since you asked so politely, I'll tell you. Though I am rather surprised you haven't figured it out already." Eleesa put her cup down and stared straight at Knives. "As you have already surmised, I'm neither human, nor plant. Yet at the same time, I'm both."

"You're half-plant," Knives breathed admiringly.

"Bingo." Eleesa poked her nose a couple of times. "You hit it on the head."

"I didn't even notice," he remarked, more to himself then to her.

"That's your problem, Knives. You're so wrapped up in your own delusions that when it comes to the really important things, you don't even notice them. You think you're the only person whose ever suffered a traumatic past and therefore the only one who has a right to be ruthless and unconscionable."

"Well it has gotten me this far, hasn't it?" he laughed sardonically.

"Yes, but how much further do you truly think you can ride on it?"

Their eyes locked. Knives felt that helpless feeling start to swallow him up again. He didn't like this game anymore. He was losing and he knew it. She was making him think. Think about the past and about the future and about things he didn't want to think about. Did he really want to end up totally alone? That was not what his ultimate goal was when he had started out. There was always the thought of Vash by his side, as well as their brothers and sisters. But would any of them really be there? Would any of them really ever see things the way he did?

He wanted to answer Eleesa. A part of him wanted to cry out for her help, her comfort, while the other part of him sneered and fought to beat down those urges. It was that part of him, the part filled with hate and rage that won out. He was about to make a biting retort when the phone rang. Eleesa stood up and went into the kitchen to answer it with Knives trailing behind her.

"Hey Jake," she said automatically into the phone. "Oh, Vash. Sorry I didn't know it was you. Usually Jake is the only one that ever calls."

"Knives? Yeah he's right here. I'll let you talk to him." Eleesa looked confused as she handed the phone to Knives. "It's your brother, for you. He sounds … strange."

Knives took a deep breath to collect himself before taking the receiver.

"Brother dear! How are you?" He filled his voice with mocking sincerity.

"Knives, you're okay," Vash sounded relieved.

"Well, I'd be even better if I had a few human heads on a platter, brother, but yes, I am okay." As if everything else that had happened wasn't bad enough, now he had to deal with his brother's strange behavior. It was a very confusing day for Knives.

"I just," Vash paused, collecting his thoughts. "I just had a bad feeling that something might be wrong with you … or Miss Eleesa."

Knives chuckled darkly. Was his brother honestly concerned about him? Did Vash really think he was that weak?

'_Weren't you a few minutes ago, though?'_ The thought rose unbidden to the forefront of his mind and Knives quickly pushed it back.

"Well everything is fine and you don't have anything to worry about. In fact, we're getting along so well, that I may never leave."

"Oh," Vash said, a little taken aback. He had somehow missed the sarcasm emanating from his brother's voice at the last statement.

Knives let lose a low growl. It was bad enough that he had shown weakness to Eleesa. He was not about to show it to his brother or anyone else that he happened upon. He definitely didn't want to stand around and listen to Vash's simpering drabble when all it did was remind him of that weakness.

"Listen, _Brother_, I really don't have time to sit here and chat about your worries or fears. Why don't you talk to Eleesa about that? She seems to have that subject all wrapped up." Without waiting for a reply, he handed the phone back to Eleesa and left the room.

"Hi, Vash," she said in her normal, upbeat voice, to let him know she was on the phone.

"Uh, Miss Eleesa, hi. Um. Is Knives really okay?"

"Oh don't worry about Knives. He's just upset because I beat him at a game of chess."

"Oh, okay." Eleesa could tell that Vash wasn't quite convinced that that was the only thing wrong, but before she could say anything else, Knives poked his head around the corner, a wide grin on his face.

"Oh, honey," he said in more mocking tones. "We have company headed our way."

"What?" Eleesa turned, surprised.

"Company. Some big mean looking men in a big mean looking truck. Headed our way. Thought you should know."

"Vash?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to have to go now. Seems we have visitors."

"Oh."

"We'll talk to you some other time, okay?"

"Okay."

Eleesa hung up the phone and walked back into the sitting room. Pulling back the curtain, she saw a jeep heading towards the house filled with four or five men. Her jaw tightened at the sight.

"Damn," she whispered out loud. She should have felt them if they were that close. The fact that she didn't meant that she hadn't realized just how much energy she was expanding on Knives. Energy that she couldn't exactly stop using either, which meant that she would have to be a bit more careful then usual.

"Well," she sighed. "I guess I'd better go see what they want."

Knives smiled as he watched her go. He had seen the look on her face and she had been anything but happy at the prospect of having people come by. He could definitely work with this. Knives slowly made his way upstairs to grab Eleesa's gun for her. This was going to be fun.

* * *

Eleesa stood out on the front porch and waited as the jeep approached. When it was within shouting distance she stepped off the porch and made her way toward it. The jeep came to a halt about fifteen feet from her and she saw that there were five men in the truck.

"May I help you?" Eleesa asked. Her guard was up. Though they tried to look pleasant enough, she could tell now that they were closer that they were dangerous. Even the youngest, with his boyish good looks and bright, cheerful smile, was cold and ruthless on the inside. In some ways, he seemed even worse then the one she took to be the leader.

At least, that's what she had determined from the amount of respect that she felt them feeling for the taller, more rugged looking man. It was to him that she had directed her question.

"Name's Kreeker. And missy, you can help me anytime," he sniggered.

Eleesa let her mind push forward just a bit. They were looking for something, though what that something was, she couldn't tell. At least not without taking the restraints off of Knives and that was not going to happen.

"If that's all you came for …" she turned to leave just as Knives came out of the house, his right hand behind his back.

The youngest outlaw quickly nudged his boss and nodded toward the blonde killer.

"Actually," the leader conceded. "We were just going to ask you if you had seen anyone by the name of Vash around here. Heard he was in New Maine and thought he might have come by here."

Eleesa stopped in mid-stride. She studied the outlaws for a moment.

"Vash the Stampede?" she asked.

"Why, yes," Kreeker leaned over the steering wheel of the jeep, his mouth spread into a wide grin.

"Sorry," Eleesa shook her head. "Can't help you."

"Can't or won't?" he asked.

Knives finally reached the group, an evil smile on his face.

"Well, well, well," he remarked casually. "What's going on here?"

"These mean are looking for Vash the Stampede." Eleesa replied. "But they're just leaving now."

"Oh," Knives muttered scornfully. "And here I went through all the trouble to get your gun because I thought we were going to have some fun." He pulled the gun out from behind his back to show it off, before folding his arms in front. He made sure that when he did so, the gun remained in full view.

Eleesa was about to tell him to cut it out, but decided better of it. If the outlaws did cause trouble, which she was getting the impression that they would, then she might need that gun.

"I never said I was leaving missy," Kreeker interjected, as if he had read her mind. "And your little gun doesn't scare me in the least. Vash the Stampede."

"You think he's Vash?" Eleesa laughed. Then she stopped abruptly. "Believe me, he is no Vash."

"Then you know Vash?" asked the younger outlaw casually.

"Possibly," Knives smirked.

"It doesn't matter if we do or don't," interrupted Eleesa. "You're not going to find him here and I have no intention of directing you to him. Now why don't you just leave?"

"Sorry ma'am. No can do," Kreeker lowered his head mournfully. When he pulled it back up, it was with an almost insane grin. He waved a large gun that was gripped in his hand. "You see, I want that Sixty Million double dollar reward and with this beauty, I intend to get it."

All pretense of joviality left Knives as he looked at the gun in the man's hand. His gun. This imbecile had his gun! And he was planning on hunting Vash down with it? Rage began to build in Knives as he gripped the gun in his own hand even tighter.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Kreeker snarled. He pointed the gun directly at Knives head.

"Now," he continued, cocking the gun for emphasis. "If he isn't Vash the Stampede, then you just tell me where New Maine and Vash the Stampede are and we'll be on our way."


	9. Dive into Memories

_**Author's Note:** Boy, two chapters in one day! I think this is a new one for me. LOL Of course it helps that this particular chapter has been mostly written for quite awhile now and I was just waiting to get the previous one written so that I could make the final changes and touches to this one. I hope it works well. And you get to see a side of Eleesa that you haven't seen before. Yes, she can be a vicious little thing at times. Or maybe that's me. I just love torturing Knives. It really makes my day;-)_

_Anyway, please Read and Review! I really want to know what you think!_

_**Ormandria

* * *

**_

_Eleesa stood by the well, watching the jeep as it approached. She has halfway tempted to turn around and go inside, but she knew that it wouldn't do any good. Even from this distance the two men reeked of determination and self importance. More importantly, they reeked of blood. One of them was a killer, while the other was the one ordering the killing._

_It wasn't just her empathy that told her this, though. There had been rumors about these two going around for years. Most of the people in New Maine were terrified of them. Rick Rakold, who owned New Maine and all the land in a fifty mile radius, and Fox Gamblin, his personal body guard, or personal assassin, depending on which rumor's you wanted to listen to._

_They were most likely here about the well again. Last time Rakold had come out to talk to her he had been alone. This time he wanted back-up. He was afraid of her. She could taste it in the air around him, it was so intense. So he was finally bringing Gamblin in some inane belief that it would change matters._

_The jeep pulled up about twenty feet away and the two men got out. They walked over to Eleesa, who continued to stand where she was, waiting for them. Her eyes scanned them and she quickly made a mental note of the gun that was harnessed at Gamblin's side._

"_Eleesa dear," Rakold simpered. "How are you today?"_

"_What are you doing back here Rakold? I thought I told you to leave and not come back."_

"_Tch, tch… My dear, this is **my** land that you are currently residing on. And **my** water that you are currently pumping into your well." He flicked his hand against the well for emphasis._

_Eleesa fought her impatience back as she sneered at the would-be emperor of New Maine. "This is a planet and as such, it belongs to those that inhabit it. Not to worms like you that think they are better then everyone else."_

"_Wrong answer," he snarled back as he reached inside his coat to pull out a deed. He flashed it in front of her, as his mouth upturned into a vicious grin. "This proves that everything that is on my property belongs to me. That means that your little house and barn, all your little plants, everything, belongs to me. And since you refuse to pay me my due in rent and taxes, I am hereby evicting you from the property with nothing but the clothes on your back."_

_He paused and let his eyes linger over her figure for a brief moment before he went on. "Of course, I might just decide to take those too, and then maybe you can think of some other way to earn them back."_

_It was the wrong statement at the wrong time. Eleesa, her temper already worn thin by this man and his repeated refusals to let her live in peace, grabbed Rakold's arm in a tight grip. Her eyes were filled with rage. That this man thought he could even begin to hold some power over her, when he was nothing but a weak-willed, speck of a human, was beyond her. Especially when he was so filled with fear. She laughed sharply at the look on his face._

_Rakold cried out involuntarily, wincing as he felt severe pressure on his arm. His knees began to buckle. He screamed out as he felt his arm snap in two._

_It would be so easy, Eleesa thought to herself, to rip his arm right off of him. She almost did too, when she felt the barrel of a gun next to her head._

"_Let him go," Gamblin said in a calm voice. He held no fear of her, but instead seemed to respect that she was definitely a dangerous woman at the moment. Eleesa loosened her grip and let Rakold go. It wasn't that she was afraid. She was simply smart. If she was busy ripping off Rakold's arm, she wouldn't be able to defend against Gamblin should he decide to shoot._

_Gamblin kept the gun level to her head, not taking his eyes off of her while he spoke to Rakold. "You okay, boss?" he asked._

_Rakold leaned against the well, his face contorted in agony as he looked at Eleesa. She could feel the hate radiating off them now, and wasn't sure which she liked more. The taste of the fear, or the taste of pure, unadulterated hatred. She savored the flavors of both for the briefest of moments. She had grown to enjoy these chances to inflict emotional suffering on people. It gave her the opportunity to release all her pent up anger and frustration on someone else, giving her the chance to watch them writhe in agony once in a while. Chances that were few and far between, since normal humans were more like a plague to her, hurting to badly to be around._

"_Leave," she repeated, not giving Rakold a chance to answer. "Leave and never come back."_

"_Missy, I don't think you get the big picture here," commented Gamblin casually. "I'm the one holding the gun." As if to prove the point, he caulked the hammer. Though, he never got the chance to pull the trigger._

_Eleesa's patience was finally spent. Without so much as a thought, she quickly thrust her hand out to her side, hitting the killer in the chest and causing him to fall backwards to the ground as the gun slipped from his hands. Blood spurted out of Gamblin's mouth and from his chest, his dead eyes widen in utter surprise, as Eleesa pulled her hand back just as quickly, looking at it in amazement._

_Rakold's fear turned to pure terror as he watched the scene unfold, it what seemed to him to be eternal slow-motion, unable to believe what he had just seen. His breath caught in his throat as he stumbled back in a panic. He barely caught himself on the well as he nearly fell in his rush to get away from Eleesa._

"_Yo…You…," he stuttered, tears streaming down his face, the pain in his arm forgotten. _

"_You're a monster!" he screamed._

_He turned and ran, his useless arm dangling by his side and ignoring the jeep that had brought him here. His only thoughts were to get as far away as his legs could carry him. The deed that he had been waving around a few minutes before fluttered down gently to lie in the dirt next to the well. _

_Eleesa noticed none of this. It didn't concern her at the moment. All she could do was to stare at her right hand, morbidly mesmerized by the still beating heart the lay within its grasp.

* * *

_

It happened so quickly that Knives barely had time to blink. The fluidity of motion and the speed with which that motion was carried out left him salivating and wishing that he were free of his mental restraints and on the other end of the gun that was now in Eleesa's hand; the same gun that he had been holding until she so nimbly took it from his own fingers.

The first bullet struck the leader's wrist, causing him to drop his shotgun with a scream of pain. The second bullet went straight through his shoulder. Eleesa was standing straighter then ever. Her eyes were the only things that truly betrayed any real emotion and although Knives couldn't be certain, he thought there was a sense of loathing and bitter enjoyment in them.

This woman was definitely the real thing. A near identical version to he and Vash, only more centered emotionally and physically.

"I told you to leave once already. Do yourselves a favor and don't make me tell you again." Eleesa's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Or next time I start aiming lower." As if to show how serious she was, Eleesa lowered the level of the gun's barrel to hip level so that it was pointing directly at the groin of one of the accomplices standing in the jeep. A vindictive smile started to play at the corners of her mouth.

The four other outlaws, being smart enough to put two and two together, scrambled to get their comrades, back into the jeep. The leader, spurting vital red fluids all over himself and paying no attention to anything other than his injured wrist and shoulder, had to be hand-lifted into the back of the vehicle. One of the others quickly grabbed the gun that had fallen onto the hood of the jeep only after he looked up to ensure he wouldn't get shot himself for trying, and loaded it into the jalopy as well. Once everyone was set, they through it into reverse and sped off in the distance. The youngest looked back, his face a mixture of fury, hatred and fear directed solely at Eleesa.

Knives could still hear the distant screams from the leader as the jeep pulled out of sight. Eleesa turned to go inside, slamming the firearm roughly against Knives chest as she did so. He took it with glee. This had been the best fun he had had since he first woke up in this abysmal place. He was really starting to like Eleesa more and more. The look on her face had pulled at something primal within him that roared to get out. If he only he wasn't (what was the word she used?) neutered, he would not hesitate to goad her into a fight. A fight between the two of them – now that was something that would be absolutely spectacular.

Knives followed Eleesa into the house and back to the kitchen where he found her wrapping a bit of cloth around her left hand.

"Well, well, it seems that I misjudged you. You are a ruthless little thing aren't you?" he teased. "For a second there I thought you might actually kill them."

"Shut it, Knives." Eleesa's voice was cold beyond imagining. Knives narrowed his eyes a bit. Something in her demeanor had changed. Something that might give him a real advantage over her. She was back to staring at some distant spot only she could see. Her brow was furrowed deep in concern and she chewed on her bottom lip in thought.

"What's the matter? Can't stand the fact that you even thought about becoming a cold-blooded killer like yours truly?" he cut back, a searing smile on his face.

Eleesa glanced up, her normal sardonic smile back in place. "Who me? 'Fraid you have me confused with your brother. I never said I would_ never_ kill. I just said I don't_ like _to. Big difference there. It's the sporadic killing for no other reason than your own twisted liking for it that I can't stand. But for the sake of survival or defending those I care about. Well, I have to say, I'd kill in an instant… if I had too…." Eleesa let the last part hang in the air. Knives didn't have to ask what she meant by that. Her meaning had been crystal clear. If she thought him a danger to her or anyone else, she would have no compunctions about killing him, unlike Vash, who believed Knives could be reformed.

The only things that seemed to be holding Eleesa back from doing just that, were her promise to Vash and the fact that she seemed to be waiting for Knives to prove her right beyond a shadow of a doubt.

"Besides," she continued. "Who says I've never killed before anyway?"

It wasn't just that she said it. It was the way she said it. Something in her tone of voice shook Knives to the deepest core. He felt his veins tighten at the sound.

"So you have killed someone, eh?" Knives forced his body to relax and a broad, hungry grin appeared on his face. It excited him. Here was a person that he could actually see by his side as he destroyed the world around him. All he had to do was convince her to become what he now believed she once had been.

"Yes, I have. So what? You seem to think it's no big deal, right? Why, does it surprise you that I could kill someone?"

Knives stopped smiling. She wasn't batting him. It had been a sincere question; as though he might see something in her that she was unable to see. If a human could be like a machine, than it would be Eleesa right at this moment. Knives couldn't explain it. She reminded him of himself. They were too much alike and he found it irritating.

"I don't know. It shouldn't surprise me. Especially not after everything I've seen, but …." Knives shrugged his shoulders. All humor and sarcasm were gone from his voice and he couldn't help but answer truthfully. He stood there not knowing how to react, but feeling instead that any action on his part would disturb some gentle fabric of reality that had been woven between the two.

It was infuriating, the effect that this woman was having on him. He seemed to be stumbling over his own thoughts and actions lately. Why should he be so damned concerned about how she would react to something? It was more then just the fact that she had a grip on his mind or that she had seen him during a weak point. He was beginning to feel more and more defenseless in her presence, and there was nothing he could do about it anymore.

"I see…."

Eleesa heard it in that silence. The final crack. Smaller then the one earlier, but still the most important. All she had to do now, was to light the dynamite. She nodded her head as she came to a decision. If there was ever going to be a good time to break Knives, now would be that time.

"Tell me, have you ever felt anyone die Knives?"

Knives was taken aback by this. _'What kind of a question was that?'_ he thought, though he was secretly glad for it. It put him back in familiar territory.

"Of course I have," he said dismissively. "Haven't you been paying attention? I have killed hundreds. Most with my own two hands."

"That's not what I meant." Eleesa looked over at Knives, a look of extreme curiosity crossed her face. "What I meant to say is," she walked slowly toward Knives, studying him like he had often studied Vash. "Have you ever felt the life seep out of a living creature? Have you ever tasted the fear and death in your mouth and known that it was because of you?"

"No," Knives responded. "I can't say I have. That was more along Legolis' line."

"Hmm. Well, I have," she said. "The power is … immeasurable. The feeling … indescribable." There was the same look in her eyes that she had had upstairs when Knives had first woke up. It went beyond any emotion Knives could think to put a name to.

Knives could feel the lust for blood rise back up in his throat. This was the Eleesa he had wanted to bring out. He just hadn't realized how absurdly simple it would be. IF he had known, he would have tried to arrange for some outlaw idiots to come around sooner. All the idiotic doubts that he had been having suddenly melted away in that moment as he felt the power-base shift back to him.

"Would you like to feel it?" Eleesa's lips curled into a wicked smile as she studied Knives. "I'm sure you'd absolutely love it. What could be better then to taste a person's life slip away and feed on their fear as they do so? It would be the ultimate banquet for someone like you. And I can show you what it feels like, if you want …." Eleesa stopped a mere foot away from Knives, waiting for his answer.

His blood lust, his urge for destruction started taking over all rational thought in his head as he found himself nodding yes to Eleesa. He could feel his own blood pounding through his veins in excitement. It would be the ultimate thrill. As such he ignored the small, urgent voice at the back of his mind that started screaming for attention as soon as Eleesa reached her hands out to cup his head. It was that voice, the one he would later regret not having listened to, that kept trying to tell him ... nothing is this easy and that there must be a catch.

Eleesa closed her eyes in concentration, and Knives felt a small, sudden push inside of his mind.

* * *

_He found himself standing outside the wasteland that had once been the city of July. Why was he here? Oh yes. The grave. He had come to visit the grave, like he did every twenty-five years. It was gone now though. There was no way it could have survived all of this._

_Anger and hatred welled up inside of him. The all too familiar sensations of loathing as he gazed around at the people that lay dying all around him. But there was something more. It was a sick feeling – a nausea that dug at his stomach. Pain, despair and death were only some of the emotions that surged through his body and mind. There were emotions of every shape and kind. They each had their own unique taste and texture, yet they each ran into each other. They were everywhere and he could feel all of them in the deepest fibers of his being. They became a thick mass that couldn't be untangled. The worst part was that he couldn't tell which ones were his and which ones belonged to the others. _

_The wave of emotions came in a strong, sudden torrent, pushing him and pulling him at the same time, threatening to rip him apart from the inside out. He could feel everything that the people around him were feeling. Each scream that came from their lips echoed in his mind, and each death brought with it a small part of his soul being ripped out in a final desperate act to hold on._

_A pit had opened up inside of him, trying to suck what little sanity he had left inside of it. It was too much. Knives wanted to scream, to stop the pain, but he couldn't. He walked among the people in a sickening daze, jumping away anytime someone reached out for him. Touching these people only made it worse. An emotional blade, awash in the blood of others, slid slowly down through his mind and heart. Fear thrust its way up to the surface of his mind. A fear that was somehow different from all the other emotions. Why was he still standing? Why couldn't he run and leave all this behind? Knives had never before wished himself dead, but he did now. _

_His body shook and convulsed as tears began to flow down his face. He couldn't take it anymore. It was too overwhelming. With each step he took, he lost some vital part of himself._

_Knives collapsed to the ground, screaming for release in his own thoughts, while his lips did little more than let out a whimper of despair. A gun lay in front of him. No doubt it had been dropped by one of the many looters that had come to feast on the dead carcass of the once thriving city._

_His body began moving like a mannequin, devoid of any real thought, as his hand moved to cover the weapon. Picking it up he checked to see if it was loaded. Upon confirmation, he cocked the weapon and brought up to the front of his face. He opened his mouth wide and inserted the barrel so that the end rested deep against the back roof of his mouth. It would have been so easy and it would end the pain. Before he had a chance to pull the trigger, someone grabbed his hand, forcing the gun away. The gun fired harmlessly into the air and Knives turned to look into the face of the person who had stopped him. _

_A stocky man stood before him and seemed to be talking to him urgently, but Knives couldn't make out what was being said. The onslaught of emotions drowned out the words. Suddenly some small dam inside of him, that had been protecting him until that moment, broke and Knives screamed in new unexplainable torment.

* * *

_

Knives felt a rush of air enter his lungs, burning them from the inside out as he gasped for breathe. He felt as though he hadn't breathed in ages. He was once again in Eleesa's kitchen, only this time he was seated on the floor with his back against the wall. Sweat poured down his face as he tried to get his bearings. The room swayed before him in dizzying circles and fuzzy outlines. It took a while for the world to right itself to the point where he could actually make some sense of what was going on.

Eleesa sat at the table to his right, with a cup of tea held tightly in her hands. She sat totally still and unblinking, her hands and face tense, waiting for something to happen.

Suddenly the memories from what he had just seen and felt came rushing back with all the emotions that he had felt. It was almost like he was experiencing the entire thing again. Which was a strange feeling indeed since they had not been his memories in the first place, but someone else's. He had only a split moment to register them before he once again became physically and emotionally incapacitated by them. The bile that had stuck in his throat before now pushed its way up with ease as Knives began retching on the floor, until he finally passed out sometime later.

Knives sat up in bed, his mouth still full of the taste of death and stomach fluids. He looked at the table that held the vase Eleesa had given to him before. A wash basin had been added to it along with some clean towels and a look down at his arms and chest showed that his bandages had been changed recently.

He shuddered at the thoughts that coalesced in his mind, as he swung his legs over the bed and stood up. His body shuddered slightly, weak from the convulsions of being sick. Anger and fear warred inside of him like they never had before. He wasn't sure what had happened exactly. He just knew that someone was going to pay. As he thought of that, the images of dying people came to mind, turning his stomach once more. His legs collapsed beneath him, landing him back on the bed.

Tears spilled from his eyes as he fought against the wave of emotions that had overcome him. A cry of pain escaped his lips. His arm lashed out across the table, smashing the water basin and vase to the floor.

Why should it hurt so badly? He pushed himself back up, determined to get downstairs and find that bitch, Eleesa. This was her all her doing. The small part of him that continued to think rationally stopped him though. If he went downstairs in this condition, he'd be playing right into her hands _again_. Something that he just couldn't allow himself to do.

Knives screamed in frustration. He lunged at the dresser against the wall, grabbing it and hurling it to the floor. He began kicking it, releasing all the pent up anger that seethed through his body. When there was no more to kick, he overturned the table and proceeded to smash it with his bare hands. He punched and beat it until his knuckles flowed with blood and the physical pain became almost as unbearable as the emotional.

"You should be careful," came Eleesa's voice from the door. "You're libel to open up your stitches doing that." She gazed around the room while Knives knelt, hands on the floor, trying to catch his breath and curtail the tears that continued to course down his face.

"What … did you … do to me?" he snarled.

"The same thing you did to me when you set all those SEED ships to crash into this planet all those years ago." She knelt beside him and very gently took his face in her hands, forcing him to look up at her.

"Welcome to my world," she smiled coldly. "Now let's get you cleaned up."

Knives swallowed back his sudden, unhampered fear asEleesa pulledhim up to helphim get downstairs so she could bandage his hands. As they left the room, neither noticed the single, small, un-cracked glass rose from the bottom of the vase, that lay sparkling in the midst of all the rubbish.

* * *

Envers finally brought the jalopy to a halt some fifty or so iles away.

"Damn!" he shouted. "How did that bitch do that?"

"She was good, that's how," replied Hoigt.

"Well she'll be dead soon enough," growled Kable.

"What do mean, Kable? You can't seriously be thinking of going back there can you?" Hoigt asked. "You saw her. That speed. That ain't normal."

"She shot my brother Hoigt." Kable looked over at Kreeker who lay unconscious, and Joist who was busy putting pressure on the wounds to stem the flow of blood.

"Yeah," Joist remarked calmly. "But he'll live and I doubt even he'll want you going back at this point."

"It's not his choice anymore. She pissed me off, and now it's time for her to pay."

"She'll be expecting you," Envers muttered.

"So, I'll wait awhile. I'll give her a week. By then she'll think we've all moved on and so she won't be expecting us anymore. Then it'll be easy." Kable gripped the two guns they had found in the desert, one in each hand, and glowering back at the direction from which they had come. "Until then, we need to find a place to camp so that Kreek can recovery and we can get some rest."

"We can look for one of those oasis thingies," said Hoigt. "I heard that this particular area is covered in 'em."

"Fine. Let's go."

With that, Envers started up the jeep again and they were on their way once more. Though without the urgency they had had before.


	10. Reflections

_**A/N:** So sorry for the short chapter folks. Especially since it took me so long to get this posted. But it just seemed like such a GOOD spot to cut off... (There is a reason I am known among my friends as "Queen of the Irritating Cliff-hangers"). Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. There will be more coming, but I cannot guarantee when, as we are hitting into our busy month at work. When I get a chance, I promise to update this and other stories as well._

_Please just hang in there with me. Thanks!_

_**Ormandria

* * *

**_

Knives stopped in mid-step, his long, lanky body resting against the stairs railing, as hatred foamed inside his mind. In all his years, he had never felt so many different emotions from himself, let alone from people that had been years dead, mostly by his own hand. Actually, truth be told, it was by his brother's hand, but since he had been the one that had forced that hand, it was technically his fault. It was almost enough to make him wretch at the very thought of violence. Still, he could not keep his mind off the thought of how beautiful Eleesa's head would look on the top of a very sharp, very pointed, silver spike right at this very moment.

"Go ahead and try," Eleesa paused, turning toward him, as though she had read his thoughts. Then again, perhaps she had. It wouldn't have surprised him at this point.

"You know what will happen if you do," she continued.

He thought of all the times over the last few days that he had tried to do something that she didn't wish him to do, of the leash that now hung invisible around his neck and prevented him from following through with such thoughts. But that was not the reason he didn't try this time. That was not what stopped him.

The moment he gave serious thought to the prospect of her head on a spear, he was assailed by the memory of hundreds of disembodied, dying screams coursing their way through his brain. Knives doubled over in renewed agony, collapsing on the stairs.

"Knives!" Eleesa jumped up quickly to catch him so that he didn't tumble down the stairs. Knives caught himself first though and shrank violently away from her touch.

"_Leave me!"_ he barked. _"Just leave me alone!"_

She stepped back, looking at him for a moment before nodding and making her way back down the stairs again.

"I've made some tea. It will do you good," commented at the bottom of the stairs in a soft voice.

Knives finally made it to the kitchen a few minutes later, after regaining his composure and wiping the mixture of sweat and tears from his face. He noted that Eleesa already had a bandage for his hand out, as well as a wet wash cloth and soap to clean and disinfect the wound first. He sat down, allowing her to minister to the tender cut without so much as a word passing between them. When she was done she pressed a cup of steaming brown liquid into his hand.

"What is this?" he asked.

"Linden tea," she replied. "It will help calm your nerves and settle your stomach."

"My nerves and stomach are fine, thank you," he remarked defensively.

"Oh really?" Her eyes swept down to his shaking hands. Knives snorted in irritation and all but slammed the cup down on the table.

"When are you going to learn that you can't hide anything from me Knives?"

"When are you going to learn that I want you out of my head?" he smiled sarcastically.

"What you want, and what you'll get are two completely different things. So deal."

He looked away in annoyance.

"They had your gun," Eleesa remarked casually, sipping at her own tea.

"Yes," Knives replied in a dry voice. He looked back at the drink in front of him and grudgingly admitted to himself that he _was_ thirsty. Shaking his head he decided that there were more going to be more important battles in store in the future and to waste energy on this one was inherently stupid. He picked up the cup and took a long sip of the tea.

Eleesa had been right. He had not realized just how badly his stomach had felt before. He also felt his muscles relax and the tension in the back of his neck started to unwind a bit.

"It's good," he said shortly, still not totally recovered from the incident on the stairs.

'_Damn it!'_ he thought bitterly. If he had thought his emotions were a wreck before, they were nothing compared to now. Everything floating through his head was getting to him and he wasn't even sure which parts of it were his own anymore and which were others.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Eleesa asked.

"Do about what?"

"Them. Your gun. What are you going to do?"

'_That's right,'_ he mused. All this time he thought that his brother had taken the guns with him, but he must have left them in the desert instead. The urge to go after the gang was great. That some no account, arrogant imbecile of a human thought he could threaten Knives with his own gun was unacceptable. Once free of this nightmare he'd hunt them down and …. Memories of people clawing at him rose up, churning his stomach again and threatening to unleash a new round of bile upon the floor. Knives quickly pushed all thoughts of revenge out of his mind in self-defense.

"I'd rather not talk about it," he cringed, speaking through gritted teeth.

Eleesa nodded in satisfaction. "Very well. I won't bring it up again."

She tilted her own cup back and drained the remainder of her tea, then stood up, getting ready to leave.

"There's more tea on the stove if you want it. I really do recommend that you have at least one more cup. After that you should probably get some rest. You look like you could use it. I've got chores to take care of."

With that she left Knives sitting alone in the kitchen. He waited until he heard the back door open and close before leaning his head down into his hands laughing bitterly at his predicament.

* * *

"So Mitch, where are you from?" Meryl asked as the trio enjoyed another round of sandwiches.

"Augusta originally. But my folks moved us to December when I was about 5." This, to Lagur's benefit, was not a lie. He had lived with his family up until the time he turned nineteen, at which point he had gone off with Kreeker and Kable. He knew that Kable would through a fit if he heard Lagur using real facts about himself, but he always found it much easier to lie about a town he knew then to lie about one he didn't.

"Meryl and I have been to Augusta!" Millie cried excitedly. "And it wasn't even that long ago."

"Oh? How does it look?" he asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Not so good anymore," she laughed nervously. "It was sort of in ruins at the time."

"Oh," Lagur looked down, unable to hide his disappointment. "I had heard the rumors, but I had hoped it wasn't true."

"Um, here!" Meryl shouted, eager to change the subject. It wouldn't do if he started to recall that most of the rumors revolved around Vash destroying the town. "A toast to living new lives in new places!" She raised her glass.

"Luckily no one was hurt though," Millie continued to smile insipidly as she ignore her friend.

"Millie!" Meryl nudged her in the ribs, and spoke through gritted teeth. "I'm sure that Mr. Johanssen doesn't want to hear all that."

"Oh, yeah," Millie laughed. "Sorry about that."

"No problem," Lagur grinned. _'Damn it,'_ he thought to himself. The more he talked to these girls, the more he liked them. Especially Millie. She reminded him of mother in a strange way. Many people had said many things about Lagur Nash, but not a single one was ever able to say that he didn't love his mother.

Thus it was that over the course of the day, as he got to know them more and more, guilt over his deception had begun to assail him. He didn't want to do anything that might cause these girls heartache. Yet that was what exactly what he was doing, wasn't it? Lagur sighed as he took another bit of sandwich.

'_What a hell of a time to develop a conscious,'_ he thought irritably, while aloud he merely said in a quiet, thoughtful voice, "We should be in New Maine soon."

Millie and Meryl both nodded in agreement.

* * *

Vash leaned forward over the fountain and stretched his hand toward the small red ball that now floated in its water. "Almost," he gasped. "Almost …. Got it!"

He sprang up enthusiastically, ball in hand and held high above his head. A loud chorus of cheers echoed from the crowd of children surrounding him.

"Okay, who gets it?" he asked with a broad smile. Several of the children began bouncing up and down claiming the sphere for their own team. Finally Vash ordered them to separate from each other so that both teams were the same distance from each other and him. The plan was to toss the ball straight in between the teams and whoever got to it first, got to it first.

"What about you?" asked Thomas. "Aren't you going to play?"

"I'm afraid I'm a little worn out right now, so I thought I might just sit this game out," Vash laughed wearily. He could see the wheels in Thomas head starting to turn, so he quickly added "But I'll be sitting right here and once I'm rested, I'll be more than happy to join in the next game."

"Okay," Thomas shrugged, satisfied. Vash let out a heavy sigh of relief as he tossed the ball up and out, and the two teams tore at it. Once that was done, he let himself collapse on the edge of the fountain to rest. He was extremely tired and had gotten hardly any sleep the night before. The odd phone call, coupled with another, almost more crippling, bout of fear for Knives had made sleep virtually impossible.

His mind ran over what few facts he had. He knew that Eleesa had seemed extremely nice to him and everyone in New Maine adored her. He also knew that she was part plant and was, if possible, even older than he and Knives. He also knew that for whatever reason, Knives had decided not to kill her, just yet anyway, and that she appeared to have very little, of any at all, fear of his brother, no matter how psychotic he acted. And Knives could act very psychotic when the mood struck.

He also knew that Knives was not doing as well as he tried to pretend. He had sounded very put out and even _(dare he think it?)_, a bit more unhinged than usual during that last phone call. Still, he claimed that he was all right, and Eleesa had sounded fine, so did he really have any cause to be concerned? Somehow, he couldn't stop thinking that he did. He just couldn't figure out what that cause was.

"Ow!" The red ball bounced off Vash's forehead and back onto the ground.

"Oops," said Arnold, captain of the second team, as he ran up to retrieve the ball. "Sorry, Mr. Vash."

"That's okay," Vash laughed, rubbing his head. "To tell you the truth, I have a bit of a hard head anyway."

"You sure are funny Mr. Vash," Arnold laughed as he took the ball and ran back to his team.

Vash sighed. If only he truly felt like that. He had once, though it seemed like ages ago. He had to face facts. He hadn't felt like himself since… well, since Wolfwood had died. Wolfwood had been his best friend, right from the get go. It had been hard for him to deal with his friends last minute confession, that Wolfwood had been a member of the Gun-ho Guns, but not nearly as difficult as dealing with the knowledge that he was never coming back.

Even when he had admitted that he had been sent by Knives and Legato to spy on Vash, he still got up and defended him. He died so that Vash would have a chance to realize his dream of reforming Knives and "saving the world" has Wolfwood would always put it.

The thought of his friend cheered Vash up a bit, in a strange sort of way. He couldn't help but picture the easy-going man with a lax grin on his face laughing at his predicament.

'_If it means that much to you than just go back there and find out what the hell is going on, stupid!'_ he could almost hear Wolfwood say.

He was about to do just that, phone call or no, when he stopped dead in his tracks. He had no sooner gotten up and turned toward the hotel, when he saw something that caused his caused his heart to skip a beat.

There, in the middle of the street behind him, awash in the late afternoon sun, stood two extremely familiar looking figures. One waved joyously at him, shouting his name, while the other, the shorter of the two, simply stood stalk still, staring at him. After a few moments of neither of them moving, or saying anything, Meryl Strife dropped her bag and moved toward him.

Vash couldn't believe it. He had not expected them to come here. The fact that they had worried him. He didn't want them anywhere near Knives, but at the same time, he was suddenly and acutely aware that he had missed them both more than he had realized. A smile spread across his face as he watched Meryl stumble toward him, her eyes wide with wonder. He could almost see the tears flowing from her eyes, in joyous relief at having found him alive and well. He closed his eyes, bracing himself for the giant bear hug that he just knew was coming.

"_You jerk!"_

The punch sent him reeling to the ground as Vash looked up, confused, and more than a little afraid as Meryl Strife, her fists clenched and muscles tightened, towered over him, the heat of her anger singeing the very air around her and her eyes glowing eerily red.

In that one brief moment, Vash the Stampede saw his life flash before his very eyes ….

It needed a lot of work.


	11. Worries

_**A/N:** Wow. It has been a while since I last worked on this one. Not as long as it has been with others, but all the same. I apologize for the delay. I tend to write as the mood strikes and sometimes it is a hit or miss. Thus the several million different writing projects I have going on at once. But I finally got past the hump of the opening scene (which had caused me massive migraines on how to handle it) with this one and so, here is the next installment. Hopefully the next chapter won't be quite so long in coming._

_I do hope that everyone likes it. And as always, please review! I love reading all the reviews (even the critical ones as the help me tweek my writing)._

_**Ormandria

* * *

**_

"Meryl!" Millie exclaimed as she moved toward her friend.

The kids, meanwhile, gathered around Vash in awe, their stares flickering between him and the angry woman standing before him.

"Wow," Thomas breathed to his friends. "She looks mad."

"Mr. Vash must have been bad," nodded Kalla.

"Probably forgot her birthday," remarked another child named Patrick. "That's the same look my mom gets when my dad forgets. Then he usually has to buy her two new things to make it up to her."

Arnold looked down at Vash with pity in his eyes. "I think you'd better apologize Mr. Vash. That's what my parents say I should do when I do something wrong."

Vash let out a pathetic noise that was halfway between a whimper and a laugh. "Yeah, but the problem is, I'm not sure what I did wrong," he whispered back.

"Excuse me." Kalla tugged on Meryl's coat and waited until the woman looked down at her. At the sight of the small girl looking up innocently, Meryl felt her anger ebb away.

"Yes?" she asked the little girl.

"What did Mr. Vash do to make you angry? We need to know so we can tell him how to fix it."

Meryl smiled down at the little girl through gritted teeth. "It's a grown-up thing," she replied.

"Oh!!!" Kalla's eyes widened in understanding as she turned back to Vash and the boys. She walked over to her brother and began whispering urgently in his ears. Suddenly his eyes were widening as well as he let out a low "Uh oh." Within moments all the kids were huddled together in a tight group, abuzz with the mysterious news that Kalla had to pass on, all of them looking pityingly upon Vash and shaking there heads despondently. Vash, Meryl and Millie all watched the scene unfold in quite awe. It was almost akin to watching a bunch of mice scurrying around. When they were done, they broke apart and Thomas edged up to Vash looking very concerned.

"Flowers," he stated matter-of-factly, sounding more like an adult than the ten-year-old boy that he was. He then bent down and whispered conspiratorially to Vash. "It always works for my dad when he and mom have a fight."

"Wha?!?" Vash sat up, more startled than ever and at a complete lose for words. Not that it mattered much. The group of children, as though they were one entity, moved off, continuing to talk amongst themselves.

Meryl went bright red with embarrassment when she heard some of the comments that floated back.

"Flowers won't do him any good. She's madder than my mom has ever been," one remarked.

"Yeah. He's definitely sleeping on the couch tonight," another nodded sagely.

* * *

Knives didn't move from the table for a very long time. Instead, he sat there, cup in hand, sipping the herbal tea that Eleesa had given him, and let his thoughts drift. He didn't necessarily care where they drifted to at this point, as long as he stayed away from the thoughts of death, dying and anyone that was currently pissing him off. That meant no thoughts of Eleesa either. At least, not until he calmed down. He had no desire to find himself sick again or to deal with the pain that these thoughts caused him.

Unfortunately for him, most of his life had been a study in human misery, so that didn't leave much else for him to think on. He tried to focus his mind on the only time in his life that he had been even a tiny bit happy, without causing others harm. It was a short time, back when he was young. Back before he had discovered just how much Steve hated Vash and him. Back when he and Vash's whole world revolved around Rem.

The thought of Rem brought on a totally different set of emotions for Knives. Unlike the previous ones, there was no doubt in his mind that these were all his, though they were almost just as confusing. He hadn't been planned on killing her. He was going to save her, let her live, for Vash. At least, that was what he had always told himself.

He downed the rest of the tea in the cup before standing up and making his way to the tea pot on the stove.

Still, there were times, only a few, but still times, when his mind would wonder back and a small, deep hidden part of himself murmured that Vash wasn't the only reason he was going to let her live. Hadn't he, Knives, on some level, also wanted her to live for him as well? It was usually at those times that he found himself hating the woman even more. He was glad she was dead. As far as he was concerned, she deserved to die.

His grip tightened on the tea pot he still held in an attempt to pour himself a second cup. A surge of anger came over him though and instead he threw it across the room, spraying hot liquid over the entire kitchen. The tea pot landed, cracked and chipped, onto the floor at the base of the wall.

Knives fell to his hands and knees, laughing insanely and crying all at the same time. Try as he might, he couldn't seem to rid himself of the sick stench of death in his throat and lungs. His thoughts just kept taking him back to it.

* * *

"It's very nice to see you again, Mr. Vash," Millie chirped, with a bright cheery smile on her face. Vash nodded, as best he could, while holding a cold compress to his bruised and swollen cheek, where Meryl had punched him earlier. The trio were currently sitting around the table in Vash's room at the hotel.

"I'm sorry Vash," the shorter girl said, somberly. "I shouldn't have hit you."

"That's a'right," he sputtered. "I shouldn't have worried 'ou so much."

"Oh, I don't think it was that," remarked Millie. "True Meryl was worried, but she didn't get upset until after your telegram. You know the one where you started talking about Ele… Ow!"

"Millie!" Meryl went beet red again as she jabbed her friend in the ribs. She quickly calmed down. She turned back to Vash. "It doesn't matter why I was upset. I shouldn't have hit you and as I said, I'm sorry."

Vash put the compress down and looked at her seriously. "It's okay. Actually, I'm glad you're here."

"You are?"

"Yeah," he smiled. Meryl returned his smile, feeling more upbeat than she had in months.

"Um, Mr. Vash?" Millie looked around the sparse room. "Where is your brother?"

Meryl's head shot up. "Yeah, where is Knives?"

Vash's expression darkened just a touch, giving the girls the distinct impression that he was not exactly thrilled with the answer he was about to give them. "He's with Eleesa. She decided that it was best for his health if I weren't around while he healed."

"Healed? What happened?" Meryl asked.

"We fought in an oasis in the desert. I won, he lost. I spent a few days carrying him around while he was unconscious when I came across Eleesa's farm. It's located about half a day's drive from the town. Anyway, to make a long story short, Knives woke up while I was here in town and Eleesa asked me to stay here so that he doesn't work himself up too much and set back his healing."

"You mean that Mr. Knives is alone with that poor woman?" Millie asked, astonished.

Vash eyed her for a long moment. "Yes. Though I wouldn't be so quick to call her a poor woman. She's part plant. I have a feeling that if anyone can handle Knives, besides me, it's her."

"But you still don't fully trust the situation," Meryl piped up.

"That obvious?" Vash laughed.

"Well it only makes since," she replied. "She's an unknown factor, and he's … well, he's Knives. And who knows him and what he's capable of better than you?"

"I wish it was just that," Vash sighed. "I've been getting some bad feelings. I know this is going to sound strange, but I've actually been more worried about Knives than I have about Eleesa. I keep thinking that he's alone and frightened and hurting."

"So why don't you go back there and find out?" Millie asked.

"I was going to. I called first though, and they both insist they're fine. I just …" He paused for a moment, trying to figure out just what it was he wanted to say. "I don't know. He sounded so strange the last time I talked to him. He was agitated and angry."

"He's Knives, Vash. I thought he was always agitated and angry," Meryl said.

Vash shook his head. "Not like this. It was almost as though he was mad at himself for something."

"But he's still alive, right?" Meryl asked.

"Yeah."

"And so is Eleesa?"

"Yeah."

Meryl smiled. "Then I'm sure everything is fine. And if it worries you that much, call again."

"Alright," Vash nodded. It was odd. It wasn't much, but just the fact that Meryl and Millie were there, that he had someone to tell his own fears to, people who knew what was going on and what Knives was capable of, made him feel so much better.

"I'll do that then," he continued. "But first, I think I'll go have dinner. There's a diner down the street that makes the best food, and boy, am I hungry!" His stomach gave a gigantic rumble as if right on cue. The two women laughed as Vash blushed lighty.

"You go on Vash. Millie and I need to check in and get ourselves a room while we're here. We'll meet you at the diner when we're done."

"Okay," he grinned. "I'll see you there!" With that, he was out the door.

Meryl's own smile fell from her face and was replaced by a look of great concern.

"Are you sure that everything will be okay, Meryl? This is Mr. Knives we are talking about." Millie asked, echoing Meryl's own doubting thoughts.

"I know Millie. Chances are, if Knives really was that upset at himself it's because he hasn't found a way to kill this Eleesa person yet. But what am I suppose to do? Vash really wants to believe that there is some good in his brother. I can't just burst his bubble like that."

"I don't think there is any good in him and I won't ever believe there is until I see it," Millie mumbled, bleakly. Meryl could tell she was thinking of Wolfwood again.

"Well for all our sakes, let's hope you're wrong. For now though, we should follow Vash's lead and wait to see how things go. Just be ready to go at it at the first sign of trouble."

"Alright," Millie concurred.

* * *

Eleesa sat down in the barn, trying to collect herself, desperate to detach her own emotions from those of the man that sat in her kitchen. She could feel Knives clearly, even from this distance. Her body shuddered under a fresh torrent of torture from Knives psyche. His torment cut through her more cleanly and much more deeply than her own fingernails had.

She studied the wounds to her palm with detached interest. It hurt, but it was a minor pain. She had dealt with much worse in her life. Four small punctures from her nails. At least they were no longer bleeding. She hadn't even realized at the time that she had clenched her fists so tightly.

In a strange way, she was grateful for the wounds. The slight physical pain gave her something to concentrate on to get her mind off of the emotional pain that Knives was going through. It was almost like going through it all, all over again. The only difference was that this time she knew what to expect and therefore could ward of the majority of the pain and suffering that she was now sharing with Knives. He, on the other hand, had no such defense. He would have to go through it all, just as she had. She only hoped that she could do for him what Jake Millen had done for her all those years ago.

She took some small consolation in the fact that she had been right though. There was still at least a bit of humanity in Knives, or he would have fluffed it all off without a care in the world.

She looked out of the barn at the sun. It had been almost an hour since she had left Knives alone in the kitchen. More than enough time for him to wreck the entire place. She just hoped he hadn't taken any of his anger out on her plants. It had taken more years than she cared to count to cultivate all of them, since she had to do them a few at a time.

She readjusted the bandage on her hand, and stood up. Time to get back in and get the mess cleaned up. Both in the kitchen and in his room. It was, after all, going to be a very long night.

* * *

"Would you like some syrup to go with that, Mr. Vash?" Kora St. James said with a bright, cherry smile. The oldest of the five St. James children, Kora helped her mother, Edna, run the diner. In the few days that he had been there, the pretty eighteen-year-old had developed quite a fondness for the gentle gunslinger.

"Why yes. Thank you, Kora," he replied as she pour more syrup generously onto his pancakes.

"There you go. Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"No," he laughed nervously. Something in his gut told him that if Meryl were to walk in while he was talking to Kora, he would find himself in even deeper trouble than he had been this morning. "I think I'm fine, thanks."

"Okay. Let me know if you change your mind. I'll be right over at the counter," she replied.

"Kora!" Mrs. St. James yelled. "Leave the poor man alone and get back to work already!"

Kora sighed. "Yes, Ma'am." She returned to her place at the counter, but continued to keep a wistful eye on the tall blonde.

The door swung open, ringing the bell, as Meryl and Millie walked in.

The walked over and sat with Vash. Kora was about to use the opportunity of taking their orders to get closer to Vash again, when her mother moved in.

"Never you mind about those two, young lady. I'll take care of that table from now on."

"Yes, ma'am," Kora sulked.

Mrs. St. James went over to the table. "What can I get for you?" she asked the girls.

"Some eggs and bacon would be nice," Meryl replied.

"Ohh, I think I'll have what Mr. Vash is having," Millie said. "Those pancakes look absolutely scrumptious!"

"They should," the woman smirked proudly. "They're the best damn pancakes on this dirtball. Alright then, one order of eggs and bacon and an order of pancakes coming up."

She left, giving the three friends some privacy to talk. Something none of them seemed quite able to do at the moment.

"Well, we're all checked in," Meryl exclaimed, finally breaking the silence.

"Good," Vash replied. "I really am glad you two are here."

"Mr. Vash, you're not wearing your red coat anymore," Millie remarked.

"Oh that? I left it behind in the desert when I fought Knives. I just didn't think I needed it anymore."

"I liked that coat," Millie muttered under her breath, looking rather put out at Vash's senselessness.

"So, tell us more about this Eleesa person," Meryl spoke up before the Millie went into one of her tirades about wastefulness. She was positive that Vash would never be able to stand up under the scrutiny of Millie in lecture mode. Heck, Meryl was barely able to stand up to under the scrutiny of Millie in lecture mode.

"Not much more to tell I'm afraid," Vash stated between bites. "As I said, she's half plant and lives outside of town. Other than that, I don't really know much about her. She does seem rather nice though."

"Here you go folks." Mrs. St. James set down two platters of food in front of the girls.

"That was fast," Meryl said.

"We pride ourselves at not letting hungry people stay that way for long," Edna grinned.

"Hey," Millie looked up as a thought struck her. "Do you know Ms. Eleesa?"

"Of course I know Eleesa, dear. Everyone here knows Eleesa. Why?"

"Well, we were just wondering what you could tell us about her?" Meryl said.

"Let's see." Mrs. St. James thought for a moment. "Well, she comes into town about once a month for supplies and to visit folks. She loves telling the kids stories and playing with them. She owns most of the land here about's, save the town itself. And that's only because she gave us the deed on the town. She also owns all the water within a fifty mile radius."

"She owns the water?" Vash asked, perking up.

"Yup."

"That definitely explains the trees in town," he murmured. "I thought that whoever owned the water around here seemed awfully generous with it."

"You're joking, right?" Edna laughed. "Those trees are the reason Eleesa gave us the town to begin with. Her only conditions for letting us have the town and unlimited access to the water plant were that we plant start planting trees in town and taking care of them, and that some of the locals take to running the water plant free of charge."

"You mean the people here who work at the water plant don't get paid?" Millie was not happy at this news. "That doesn't sound very nice to me."

"I never said that they didn't get paid," Mrs. St. James interrupted. "Just not with money. You have to understand how this town runs. It's sort of a barter system. Eleesa doesn't actually have any money. But she does control the water and land around here. We give her supplies and assistance at the water plant, she gives us as much water as we can use, as well as seeds for plants and trees, and some of the arts and crafts she makes out on her farm."

"I did notice there seem to be a lot of plants around here," Meryl remarked in wonder. In fact, the trees lining the streets and in front of the hotel had just been the beginning. There were potted plants in the hotel and even some in the diner.

"Well, that doesn't even count the entertainment or the protection she gives us," The short woman smiled.

"Protection?" Vash inquired. "What kind of protection?"

"Why, protection from outlaws. She's a fine fighter when it comes right down to it. Most outlaws don't even bother with us anymore thanks to her. Of course the fact that this place is harder to find than a flea on a dog helps too. Still, the few times we've had trouble makers 'round here, she's gotten rid of them toot sweet."

Vash shook his head in amazement. He had known she knew how to take care of herself, and he had even figured she could handle Knives, but to learn that she protected a whole town was something of a wonder to him. She lived so far away from the town that it had never occurred to him to think she was so ingrained in the goings on of New Maine.

"What else can you tell us about her?" he inquired.

"Not much, I'm afraid. If you want the real scoop on Eleesa, you'd best ask Jake. He's the one that knows her best. Goes and visits her once a week, sometimes more. Anyway, I should get back to work now. Let me know if you need anything else."

"Will do," Meryl said. The trio sat in quiet contemplation, going over the conversation in their heads. Each one coming to a decidedly different conclusion about it.

Millie couldn't help but like the Eleesa person, even though she had never met the woman. She sounded as though she would do anything to help the people she cared about, much like Vash and Wolfwood did. To her, that counted for a lot.

Meryl, on the other hand, felt like she had just been punched in the stomach. This was the same woman that Vash had been gushing on about in the telegram. And from the sound of it, she was too much like Vash for Meryl's own good. What if Vash developed feelings for Eleesa. What was she, a lowly human insurance girl, suppose to do then?

Vash though, was busy wondering thoughts much darker than those of his friends. _'The few times we've had trouble makers 'round here, she's gotten rid of them.'_ That's what Mrs. St. James had said. But she hadn't said _how_ Eleesa got rid of them. Did she scare them off? Did she handle them the way he and Wolfwood handled all the outlaws and bounty hunters they'd come up against? Did she kill them?

A cold shiver worked its way down Vash's spine as he recalled all his former worries about his brother and Eleesa being alone. Suddenly, they didn't seem quite so inane anymore.

* * *

Kreeker groaned as his eyes fluttered open. "Thirsty," he croaked.

"I'll get you some water," Kable replied. He turned toward the small little water hole in the oasis and dipped a cup, filling it to the brim with cool sparkling water. He then lifted his brother's head slightly and let him take a long drawn-out sip.

"Thanks," Kreeker muttered when he was finished.

"No problem."

"Where are the others?" Kreeker asked.

"On look-out. I didn't want to take any chances with you being injured," Kable informed his brother.

"Good," Kreeker said. "Kable?"

"Yeah?"

"I want you to find that bitch. I want you to find her and put an end to her."

"I will," Kable returned, smiling bitterly. "Believe me, I will."

* * *

Eleesa walked in and took note that Knives had not left the kitchen since she had gone out to the barn. Not that this was saying much. He was currently sitting on the floor, his back to the stove, his knees pulled up with his arms draped over them and his head bowed down in what appeared to be pure exhaustion, physical, emotional and mental. He didn't even bother looking up at Eleesa as she entered the room. It didn't surprise her. This kind of thing could drain a person faster than a year's worth of hard labor being done in a single day.

She had worked it all out years ago. According to Eleesa's calculations, the human body could only hold so many tears and so much rage at any given time. When those were expended at an expedient rate, such has had happened to her once and was now happening to Knives, it left the person all but unable to function until the stores were refilled, as it were. That usually took a few hours in and off itself.

That meant, in all reality, that she would get nothing but a low-emanating hatred from Knives. Even bitter banter would be beyond his capabilities until he had recovered a bit from this fit. And once he was recovered from this fit, he would be far to busy with the next fit to even care about anything other than destroying anything and everything around him.

Eleesa looked around and saw that he had already started on that as he had availed himself to throwing quite a few mugs and various dishes at the wall. Most of them lay in small pieces next to the cracked tea pot.

"Oh well," she sighed, picking up the tea pot and looking at it in resignation. "I was tiring of that pattern anyway."

"Get out," Knives hissed from his prone position on the floor.

"What?" Eleesa asked, peering over at Knives. A rush of pure hatred hit her like a blast of hot air, as he looked up, staring at her. She held her ground against the emotional assault.

"Get out," he hissed again. "I'll kill you."

She took a slight step forward, fully intending to dare him to try when she saw his eyes widen as a sense of fear rushed over him. She stopped. Now was not the time to push his limits. Still …. She glanced down at his side and spotted the knife lying on the floor next to him, and abandoned attempt at self-injury to escape the pain she had inflicted on him. She knew though that he had not actually been trying to kill himself.

Even in this condition, Millions Knives was not the type to give up so completely. Eleesa imagined that he had merely been trying to break the bonds of the emotional snares he found himself entangled by. She knew he couldn't though. In the ruthlessness of adjusting his mind, she had also taken that away from him as well.

"Alright," she sighed. "I'll leave you alone for now. But I will be back in a bit. This place still needs to be cleaned up and I am going to want to eat dinner."

Eleesa went to the stairs and leaned her back against the wall, hugging herself tightly. Why did she feel so guilty all of the sudden? Was what she had done really that bad? She knew it had to be done, and it was better than killing him. It was giving him a chance to survive and start life anew. Yet, somehow, now, she felt like she was worse than Steve. From what she had garnered out of Knives memories, Steve had done what he had out of fear and a lack of understanding. But was she doing what she was doing out of necessity or revenge? She had been positive at first that it was out of necessity. But now that she had done it, now that she had seen him vulnerable, seen the fear in his eyes, and the children hiding behind them, she was no longer sure.

It was too late to change anything now though. She would just have to continue on, as the original plan had dictated. She walked quietly upstairs to clean up Knives room.

It never occurred to her that the guilt she found herself feeling so plainly might be coming from another source….


End file.
